The Lost Founder
by SwiftWing394
Summary: Hey guys, I'm not going to bother with a summary. You'll just have to read it to find out! I'll post  a chapter each week, enjoy!
1. Discovered

Discovered

Abigail had always been a little odd. Strange things always seemed to happen around her. Most people began to notice these events when she was six years old. At least that's what her parents Sarah and Michael Roberts used to say. Abigail's emotions appeared to trigger strange occurrences in the weather. When she got angry it would start raining heavily and there would be gale force winds. This is how Abigail got her nickname of Gail instead of the traditional Abbey which her mother always called her.

Sometimes objects would appear to move without her even touching them. Everyone just told themselves it was wind or a tilt in the table or simply it was just their own imagination playing tricks on them. The strangest thing was that birds appeared to follow her. One Christmas Gail's brother Kevin swore a small robin followed her for a whole week. Birds would always sit outside windows of rooms she was in and they seemed to sing louder whenever she was in a good mood. Everyone ignored these events thinking they couldn't mean anything but one day someone noticed the strange events surrounding Abigail Roberts and couldn't believe they hadn't been taken note of them before.

Gail's brother Kevin was friends with the wrong bunch of boys. On Wednesday afternoon one August, Kevin was out with these friends. His mother Sarah asked Abigail to go and ask him to come home for dinner and Gail reluctantly left the house walking towards the old playground. It was a sunny day but there a slight chill in the air. Gail walked slowly toward the playground. She wasn't looking forward to another confrontation with Kevin's friends. They always picked on her at school. Kevin felt bad about it later and apologized when they got home but it still upset her when he just let them bully her. The worst thing was that when they bullied her when Kevin wasn't there he refused to believe her when she told him about it later.

Gail felt like he always took their side over hers, that he liked them better. Gail looked up, she could hear Kevin and his friends laughing probably over some silly joke one of them just told. She couldn't hear what they were taking about over the swish of the trees as a small wind had picked up but she knew they weren't far away now. There was only a few more seconds until she would be at the playground. The trees were blocking her view of Kevin and his friends but she knew they would be sitting on the bench at the right of the playground as usual. Gail could see them now sitting there and laughing, Kevin's friend Conor was standing next to the bench. Conor was huge normally but because the others were sitting down he towered over them. Kevin who was closest to Conor didn't seem bothered by it but Gail was terrified just looking at them. She wanted to go over and pull Kevin away from them but knew she wouldn't get even close with his friends like brick walls towering over her blocking her path to him.

A small breeze lifted the ends of her brown hair causing a shiver to go down her spine. She wasn't sure if it was because of the cold wind or the fear of having to face Kevin's friends. It was then that Kevin looked up almost like he heard her call his name. He smiled at her, then looking panicked remembering where he was, put a mean look on his face and said something to the boys she couldn't hear. They all laughed hysterically and judging by that their laughter she assumed it was something about her. Gail could feel the tears prickling behind her eyes but pushed them back, took a deep breath and walked toward the boys the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. This was the moment that Conor looked up and saw Gail. A look of excitement flickered across Conor's face. Gail could almost see the comments about her beginning to bubble up in his mind. He was getting ready for the attack. She cringed in anticipation. Kevin could see it too and got up hastily to leave trying to make the confrontation as short as possible but it was too late. His friends had the comments formed in their minds and there was no stopping them now.

"Well look who it is, it's Kevin's little sister." Conor said mockingly. Kevin gave Gail a sympathetic look. He would apologize later for this. Kevin hit Conor lightly on the shoulder trying to get him to be quiet but it only made him go on.

"Dared to wonder out into the big bad world all by yourself did you? The poor delicate little flower always needs her big brother to defend her!" Conor carried on and the others laughed. He walked toward Gail with a menacing look on his face. He towered over her. Gail looked up at him with terror in her eyes. Kevin could see how scared Gail was and that she was uncomfortable with the small amount of space between herself and Conor. Kevin gently pulled Conor's arm once again trying to stop him but this time Conor turned on him.

"What's your problem, whose side are you on ours or hers? Make your choice. You never had a problem with any of this before and you can't go changing your mind now." He grabbed the front of Kevin's shirt and shoved him backwards. Luckily the others boys caught Kevin as he fell to the ground so he didn't get hurt. They looked horrified at Conor but Conor just looked down at them angrily. Gail dodged around Conor and stood defensively in front Kevin.

"Leave him alone!" Gail practically growled at Conor. The anger was visible in her eyes. The others had never seen her like that before even through all their mocking and most of them took a step away from her in fear. Kevin was completely shocked he had never seen her that angry in her whole life. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides and she was shaking with anger. Suddenly the sky seemed to darken. A wind began to pick up swiftly blowing Gail's hair around her face and blowing the rest of the boys back slightly. Oddly the swings began to sway back and forth with a creepy squeak from there rusty chains as they hadn't been used in so long. Trees began to shudder from the force of the wind which was getting stronger. However the trees on the other side of road weren't moving at all. It was as if they were standing in the middle of their own personal storm. The boys were getting freaked out and a few of them ran off, even Conor looked a little shaken. Gail was oblivious. She only had eyes for Conor and the anger that he had awoken in her. Kevin didn't know what to do and thinking this was just Gail letting all her anger out at once thought he better stop her before she did something she would regret. Kevin battled through the gale winds which seemed to thicken around Gail herself and pulled her back to snap her out of it. When he touched her and she looked back it seemed like the wind calmed down with her. The wind stopped and suddenly rain began to pour from the sky. Gail once again turned to Conor but he was already after sprinting halfway down the street. It was only then did she notice the small old woman staring at her with confusion and concern. Kevin and Gail started walking home but on the way they once again saw the little old woman. This time she stopped them in the middle of the road preventing them passing.

"Hello dears it's Ms. Bellam from down the road your mother wanted to borrow a recipe from me. Why don't you go home young man and your sister can come and get it?" Kevin looked at Gail with concern but she smiled you to assure him it was alright. He shrugged and walked away glancing back at them before he turned the corner. When he was out of sight the old woman turned to Gail.

"That was quite a spectacle young lady and without a wand now that was really something. Dumbledore would turn in his grave if he knew Hogwarts students were out in the muggle world doing…." It was at this point Ms. Bellam stopped talking and looked at the completely confused freaked out expression of Gail.

"Dear why on earth are you looking at me like that surely you must know what I'm talking about don't you? I mean if you don't go to Hogwarts where do you go to school?" Ms. Bellam said smiling. Gail hesitated and then looking at Ms. Bellam like she was insane, sputtered out:

"Oakwood." Ms. Bellam looked horrified. She stood there staring in bewilderment at what Gail had just told her.

"You mean to tell me that you go to a muggle school in the muggle world? So you don't go Hogwarts, do you even have a wand? Wait a minute do you even have any idea what I'm talking about? Ms. Bellam's voice was getting higher and higher from the shock of what she was hearing but Gail was still looking confused. Now Ms. Bellam realized that Gail really had no idea what she was talking about. Ms. Bellam took a step back looked at Gail quizzically and said

"Never you mind dear I'm just an old woman blabbering on about nothing at all important. Don't you worry about it. Now you go home and I'll talk to your mother some other day. Goodbye." Ms. Bellam looked deep in thought as she began to walk home. Gail stood on the spot and then blurted

"Wait! What about the recipe?" Gail didn't know what else to say. Ms. Bellam looked back, smiled sadly and said to Gail

"Another day, I don't have it on me at the moment but I will definitely be talking to your mother. I'll see you soon." With that she walked away leaving Gail standing there bewildered. On the walk home Ms. Bellam was so deep in thought she didn't talk to the people she passed or wave back to the people who waved at her. She was trying to figure what was going on and how an established school like Hogwarts overlooked someone. Ms. Bellam had gone to Hogwarts after being accepted at the age of eleven. It wasn't that much of a surprise her parents had been wizards so magic was a huge part of her life. She had known Gail's parents ever since they moved into the street eighteen years ago. She knew they weren't magical but she had never really noticed their daughter Abigail. Gail was a quite girl so she had never really spoken to her much but she never suspected the girl was a witch. Apparently no one did although Ms. Bellam had noticed strange patterns in the weather it never occurred to her that it was due to the presence of a witch. She couldn't believe there was an undiscovered witch living on her street. What would Minerva say? The headmaster of Hogwarts finding out about a sixteen year old undiscovered witch who was found by an old witch who had married a muggle and now lived in the muggle world. What on earth was going on, what in the world would Minerva say? Ms. Bellam took out her wand and opened the door with a flick of her wrist. She was too upset to bother fiddling with those silly muggle keys to get the door open. She put down her shopping bags and went straight to the telephone. She dialed and said quickly

"Minerva I have something very important to tell you . . . "

Gail was very worried about Ms. Bellam. She couldn't get the conversation out of her mind. What was she taking about wands and a place called Hogwarts? She thought she better talk to her mum about this. Maybe Ms. Bellam was going crazy and she was just talking nonsense but she seemed fine when Gail had been talking to her a few weeks ago. It was all rather odd. It was starting to get dark and Gail was glad she could see the house. It was getting colder but at least the wind had died down from the freak storm earlier. Gail walked in to the house and saw her mum ironing in the kitchen. Kevin was sitting in the living room watching television. Gail was glad he wasn't out with his friends tonight. She didn't like when he was out when it got dark it made her worried, especially after what happened between him and Conor earlier.

"Hello Abbey, what took you so long?" Mrs. Roberts said looking up from her ironing. She smiled and then walked to the fridge and poured a glass of apple juice for Gail.

"Well I was talking to Ms. Bellam from up the road. I think you should go and check on her, she was talking about the weirdest stuff. I didn't really understand what she was saying for half of the conversation." Gail looked down at the table thinking about exactly what Ms. Bellam had said. Mrs. Roberts looked concerned by Gail's expression and turned the iron off and sat down next to Gail at the kitchen table. It was then that Kevin walked into kitchen. He looked relieved when he saw Gail was home and then carried on to fridge.

"What exactly did Ms. Bellam say Abbey?" Mrs. Roberts said hesitantly. Kevin looked up at this:

"Yeah what did the old bat want, what recipe did she give you anyway isn't it a bit weird to carry a recipe around with you all the time?" Kevin said cheekily. Mrs. Roberts looked at her son confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ms. Bellam said you wanted a recipe off her and she stopped us on the way home to give it to Gail. It was really weird." Kevin said still looking in the fridge.

"Wait I never asked Ms. Bellam for a recipe. This doesn't make any sense. Abbey what else did Ms. Bellam say when you were talking to her?"

"Well she was sort of angry at me at first for some reason and then she started talking about wands and somewhere called Hogwarts and she said the word muggle and that we were living in muggle world. She looked like she was going to faint when I told her I went to Oakwood like it was the most horrible thing in the world." Gail looked up at her mum with her big blue eyes almost looking for answers. Mrs. Roberts patted Gail's hand and got up.

"Maybe I will go check on her. That does seem a bit odd although she seemed fine a few weeks ago. Well I suppose everyone gets old and after her husband's death and her children moving away she doesn't have a lot in her life all alone. I'll go and talk to her tomorrow."

"I bet Ms. Bellam is going crazy. Wands and muggles, what does that even mean?" Kevin smiled and chuckled to himself then walked out of the kitchen. Mrs. Roberts frowned in the direction the son had just walked out of the room. Gail was still sitting there looking deep in thought.

"Is everything ok Abbey?"

"Yes I'm fine. It's just when Ms. Bellam was talking to me she seemed to really believe what she was saying like she was being serious. I don't think she's crazy she seemed perfectly fine. I don't know. Also she looked at me really weird like she felt sorry for me or something and she kept saying I'll talk to you soon and I will definitely talk to your mother." Gail looked upset and confused. Mrs. Roberts looked at her sympathetically.

"Everything will be fine. She is just getting old. Don't worry I'll talk to her tomorrow I promise now go to bed, goodnight."

"Ok, goodnight." Gail got up, looking dazed and went upstairs. Mrs. Roberts could hear Gail's fading footsteps as she got further and further up the stairs. She was a bit worried about the way Gail was acting. She made a mental note that she would have to talk to Ms. Bellam tomorrow. She wanted to know exactly what had happened and why Gail was having such a strong reaction to it.

Mrs. Roberts went back to her ironing and failed to notice the grey tabby cat sitting on the window sill that had been listening to the conversation, with the same intense sort of curiosity that a human would show.


	2. Abandoned

Abandoned

Minerva Mc Gonagall had been the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for almost twenty years. She had taught there for many years before becoming headmaster and had taught a countless number of students. Many students graduated and sent their children to the school. Hogwarts had been the source of education for many generations of magical families. Her own parents had even gone to the school that she now runs.

Many past pupils sent their children to the school were they had learned to do magic as children. All young witches and wizards received a letter of acceptance at the age of eleven saying they had been accepted to the school. All magical families were kept track of so each child would receive their letter. Even muggle borns were carefully monitored by the ministry of magic. There were witches and wizards living throughout the muggle world to help in the monitoring of these muggle borns. A child had never been missed in all of Minerva's years of teaching.

This was the reason that Minerva sat perched on the windowsill of Abigail Roberts's house staring curiously at the small brown haired girl sitting at the table in her kitchen. The girl seemed perfectly ordinary to her. Without her dear friend Patricia Bellam's tip Minerva would never have even given this girl a second glance. Abigail left the kitchen without doing anything that sparked the attention of Minerva but Ms. Roberts seemed deep in thought after her daughter left. Minerva knew almost every magical family and the Roberts weren't one of them. She supposed it wouldn't have been an impossibility that a muggle born could have been missed although it had never happened before.

Minerva was in her cat animagus form. She had always loved tabby cats ever since her mother had brought one home when she was seven. Minerva had been devastated when the cat had died four years later. She had been too distraught to get another one but she never forgot the cat and when the time came to pick her aminagus form the memory of the cat's velvet fur had inspired her choice.

Minerva loved the agility the cat body gave her and she gently hopped from the window sill into the tree so she could see into Abigail's window. Abigail was sitting on the bed listening to music. Minerva couldn't hear the music but Abigail had earphones in and was nodding her head to the invisible beat. Minerva noticed that Abigail was drumming her fingers on the table like she was playing a piano. Suddenly she heard a long single note ring out. She nearly fell out of the tree from surprise. She felt her fur bristle out of animal reflex.

This was the point that Minerva noticed the keyboard behind Abigail. Abigail was sitting on the other side of the room but the keys on the keyboard were moving with the patterns that Abigail was drumming onto the table. Now Minerva could hear the soft simple melody Abigail was listening to but from the keyboard that to a muggle would have appeared to be playing itself. Abigail now took the headphones out and instantly the keyboard stopped playing. Minerva doubted Abigail knew what had just happened and her parents downstairs assumed she was just playing the piano.

This girl was without a doubt a witch. Now the only thing Minerva was confused about was how this girl had gone unnoticed for so long. There was another thing that she couldn't get out of her head. This girl obviously had extraordinary power and even though she had gone for years without using a wand that didn't seem like it was enough. Very few wizards could do magic without even noticing. This kind of power came from more than a muggle background and the Roberts had no magical history whatsoever. Who was this girl and if the Roberts weren't her parents who were?

Abigail heard Kevin's heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. She looked up and noticed the grey tabby cat staring at her from the tree outside her window. As she had never particularly liked cat she got up and closed the curtains. The way it was looking at her was beginning to freak her out. She heard Kevin scream from the next room

"Gail could you please stop with the piano, I'm exhausted." Abigail walked towards the door confused and stuck her head out the door.

"I wasn't playing the piano." She called back. Kevin stuck his head out his own door and stared at her blankly.

"Well then I guess I just imagined hearing piano music coming from your bedroom." He said to her sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

"Really I swear I wasn't. I was just listening to my iPod." She said innocently.

"Oh yeah right. You always do this. Mum had my ears tested because of this. You were playing the piano and now you're trying to make me think I'm crazy by denying it. Nice try." He gave a dirty look and his head disappeared back into his room.

"I wasn't!" She called after him but he either didn't hear or he was ignoring her. She went back into her own room and shut her door firmly. Kevin never believed her. This wasn't the first time this kind of thing had happened. He always accused her of stuff she didn't do. One time they were watching TV and it just stopped working. They were having a fight and it just exploded. She hadn't even touched the TV but he had still tried to put the blame on her. Her mum couldn't really get angry at her because he had no proof but it still hurt that he tried to make her mum think Abigail had done it. This kind of stuff happened all the time. It was really weird.

Minvera sat in the tree thinking about what she had just seen. After a few minutes she jumped down and began to walk to her friend Patricia Bellam's house. It was only a few houses away so Minerva used the time to think. When she got there Ms. Bellam opened the door for her. If any muggles had walked by they would have thought Ms. Bellam was crazy letting a cat in her front door.

"Well what did you see? What did you think?" Patricia asked anxiously. Suddenly the small grey cat she was looking down at began to grow and shift until the tall human form of Minerva Mc Gonagall stood before her. Patricia was now the shorter one of the two.

"Definitely." Minerva said seriously and looked at her friend anxiously. Patricia's eyes widened and she went flustered into the kitchen to put the kettle on. That was Patricia's answer to all of lives problem, a cup of tea.

"So what are we going to do, is this a problem?" said Patricia in a worried tone. She was watching Minerva anxiously, waiting for her response. Patricia could see the small line that appeared between Minerva's eyes when she was concentrating.

"I'm not sure. Something will have to be done about this. We can't let this girl run around the muggle world using uncontrolled magic. She might cause too much unwanted attention for the magical world. Not to mention the fact she could lose her temper and hurt someone, which judging from your experience with the girl has almost happened already." Patricia and Minerva jumped at the sound of the kettle squealing to tell them it was boiled. When Patricia composed herself she poured the tea into two mugs and handed one to Minerva.

"What are you going to do? It's too late to send a letter especially if it's a muggle family. Maybe you could go and talk to the Roberts. Talk to them in person, explain." Patricia was trying to be helpful but she could see it wasn't working.

"Maybe I will go talk to them in person. This needs to be handled delicately."

"What do you mean delicately? I know they're muggles but I doubt they will have that strong a reaction to the news. Although I suppose they will be shocked. What's wrong?" Patricia now noticed the expression on Minerva's face. She was concerned about why her friend was so confused about what to do. She had broken the news to hundreds of muggle families that their children were witches or wizards.

"I don't think that the Roberts are Abigail's real parents." Minerva said still looking upset.

"What on earth are you talking about Minerva? I have lived on this street since the Roberts moved in. I think I would know if they had adopted a child. I know I'm no spring chicken but I'm not stupid." Patricia laughed.

"No Patricia. This Abigail girl displayed extraordinary power. I know she has gone years without a wand but that kind of magic comes from a magical background. I find it difficult to believe that she's a muggle born. She did magic without even realizing it."

"Really, that's incredible. Not even many skilled educated wizards can do that. Are you sure Minerva?" Patricia said hesitantly.

"Positive. She even denied it when her brother asked her about it." Patricia now understood why her friend looked so upset. This was definitely a delicate situation.

"Your right Minerva, this is going to have to be handled very carefully. If you need any help just ask? They might be more comfortable talking to someone who is a witch that they have known for a long time." Patricia said walking Minerva to the back door.

"No I think I will need to handle this myself. Thank you for everything Patricia. I will be in touch to let you know what happens. Please call if you have any more information." Minerva said, still looking preoccupied. Patricia could see Minerva walking down her small garden path from where she was standing at the back door. It seemed an odd picture, this grand majestic witch, walking down the small muggle garden with washing blowing in the breeze behind her. Next thing the image of Minerva swirled and she seemed to disappear into thin air.

Abigail hadn't slept well. She kept dreaming about the place called Hogwarts that Ms. Bellam had mentioned. She had dreamt of witches and fairies using wands all night. The dreams were really just mashed up stories of old fairytales she had read as a child. She felt silly that morning about what she had dreamed of but thought it best not to tell her mum considering the expression on her mums face as she left the kitchen last night. Gail could hear her mum in the kitchen making lunch. Gail had slept in for much longer than she intended to.

Gail opened the curtains and was glad that the grey tabby cat was gone. She opened the window and heard a blackbird singing somewhere outside. She walked downstairs and left the house without talking to her mum. She wanted to go for a walk before she had to talk to her mum. Gail wasn't walking anywhere in particular but when she looked up a few minutes later she realized she was outside Ms. Bellam's house. She stood there staring at the house for a long time. She wanted to go up and knock on the door so she could talk to Ms. Bellam but for some reason she couldn't. She didn't know if Ms. Bellam was crazy or if she really was talking nonsense yesterday. Gail came to the conclusion that she was being ridiculous and turned and walked home, but she couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling at the back of her mind that told her to go talk to Ms. Bellam.

When Gail got home her mum and Kevin were sitting in the kitchen eating lunch. Mrs. Roberts looked surprised when she saw Gail as she thought her daughter was upstairs. Gail sat down and poured herself a glass of water but said nothing.

''So Abbey where were you I thought you were upstairs?'' Mrs. Roberts asked curiously. Gail now looked at her mother and said

''I went for a walk. I just wanted to go and get some fresh air to help me wake up.'' Gail smiled at her mother trying to reassure her that everything was fine. Mrs. Roberts was not put at ease by her daughter's weak smile but let the subject go as she didn't want to push her. Abigail had never lied to her before and she had no reason to believe that she would start now. Mrs. Roberts put her daughter's behavior down to what had happened the day before with Ms. Bellam.

Mrs. Roberts heard a key turn in the front door and looked up to see her husband walk into the kitchen. Mr. Roberts put his briefcase on the table and sighed deeply. He had had a very long day at work. He kissed his wife on the cheek, hugged his daughter and went straight to the fridge. He had long given up trying to hug his son Kevin. They had gotten over the awkward attempts of affection since Kevin had become a teenager.

"So how was your day Dad" Gail asked, smiling at her father. He turned around holding a bottle of water and replied grumpily

"Work, boring meeting after boring meeting and then more work." He sat down at the table heavily after pulling the chair out with a bang. Gail smiled comfortingly at her father and he looked at her thankful to be home. Mrs. Roberts put a plate of food down on the table in front of her husband and he picked it up taking it into the living room to eat.

Minerva stood watching the Roberts house from across the street. She was holding a small white envelope and had her wand tucked firmly into her robes. She didn't want to startle the Roberts the moment she walked through the door. She had even left her large brown pointed hat at Hogwarts. Minerva was nervous about what the Roberts reaction was going to be but she had to do this, so she picked up her robes and walked swiftly towards the Robert's front door.

Abigail was upstairs and her mother, brother and father were in the living room watching TV when the doorbell rang that night. Mrs. Roberts got up and walked toward the front door. She opened the door and didn't recognize the tall old woman standing on her doorstep. She only opened the door just a bit getting ready to tell the strange woman wearing a long black robe that she wasn't interested in buying whatever she was selling. The woman spoke before Mrs. Roberts had a chance to say anything.

"Hello Mrs. Roberts. My name is Minerva Mc Gonagall. I would like to speak to you and your husband about your daughter Abigail. This is a matter of some importance, may I come in?" Minerva glided through the door past the stunned expression of Mrs. Roberts and stood in the hallway. It was too late to get rid of her now so Mrs. Roberts gestured toward the kitchen. She was also curious how this woman knew their names. Minerva walked into kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table. Mrs. Roberts was still staring at the odd woman who didn't quite seem to fit into the picture of the kitchen.

"Would you please call your husband and daughter in, Mrs. Roberts? This matter concerns all of you." Minerva said withdrawing a small white envelope from her robe and laid it on the table in front of her. There was a crest emblazed on the front of the envelope that was unfamiliar to Mrs. Roberts. Mrs. Roberts walked out of the kitchen leaving the strange woman alone and went to go get her husband. She stuck her head in the door.

"Michael can you come to the kitchen, there is a woman who wants to talk to us." Michael Roberts got to his feet, worried at the expression on his wife's face and walked with her to the kitchen. Kevin was also in the room with his father but as he didn't hear his name or anyone yell in his direction he ignored his parents as they left the room. As they were walking down the hall Mrs. Roberts called Abbey to come down from upstairs.

Mr. Roberts seemed just as surprised by the appearance of the woman that sat at his kitchen table than his wife had been. He sat down on the chair at the opposite end of the table to the woman. He looked at her wondering why she was at his house and why she was dressed like that. Mrs. Roberts looked from her husband to the strange woman and then sat down next to husband. All of the heads in the kitchen turned as they heard Abigail coming down the stairs. Gail walked into the room expecting her parents to be casually sitting drinking coffee but instead she walked into the room to see her parents and a strange woman staring at her.

She looked at her mother hoping for an explanation but Mrs. Roberts just shrugged her shoulders trying to let her daughter know that she didn't know what was going on either. The woman rose to face Gail.

"Hello Abigail. My name is Minerva Mc Gonagall. I am the headmaster of a very special school for very special people. Here I hope this will explain." Minerva turned, picked up the small white envelope and handed it to Gail. Gail looked from the envelope in her hands to her parents and then ripped open the letter. The adults could see Gail's eyes flick back and forth across the lines of the letter. When she came to the end of the page she gasped and looked startled at Ms. Mc Gonagall. The taps behind Gail turned on suddenly even though no one had touched them. She looked down at the page in her hands and read it over and over again. After what seemed like an hour Mr. Roberts jumped up slamming his hand on the table.

"Alright that's it. What's going on and what does that letter say?" Mr. Roberts walked across the kitchen and ripped the letter from Gail's hand. He began to read what it said and Mrs. Roberts could see his face getting redder and redder as he got further down the page. When he reached the bottom he ripped the letter in two and screamed at Ms. Mc Gonagall.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you? Very funny, coming in here trying to make us believe in a load of mumbo jumbo and hocus pocus. You have a lot of nerve." He flung the pieces of the letter on the floor and pointed at the door.

"Get out of my house." He practically hissed at Ms. Mc Gonagall. Minerva stared at Mr. Roberts stunned by his reaction. She got up slowly and looked at Mr. Roberts trying to calm him.

"Please Mr. Roberts. I assure you this is all very real if you would just let me show you." She reached her hand into her robe and withdrew her wand. Mr. Roberts stepped back as if Minerva had pulled out snake and Mrs. Roberts jumped to her feet and stepped back until she was pressed against the wall behind her, as far away from Minerva as possible. Gail just stared at Ms. Mc Gonagall like she was staring at something scary but she couldn't look away.

Minerva pointed the wand in the air and a shower of light and sparks burst from the end of it. The swirl of golden light illuminated the entire kitchen casting a yellow glow across the bewildered faces of the Roberts. The light bent and shaped itself into the image of a bird which then flew gracefully around the adult's heads and faded away. Gail's eyes were opened wide staring at the spot where the 'bird' had disappeared. Her eyes were still alight with the golden light that had just illuminated the kitchen. Minerva put the wand back inside her robe and smiled gently at Gail who was staring at Minerva looking fascinated.

"Strange things happen around you, don't they? Sometimes things seem to move without you touching them and the weather seems to change when you get angry." Minerva was still staring at Gail addressing her more than her parents.

"I know sometimes you can do things you can't explain but it's not because you're strange. It's because you're special. My dear you're a witch and you have been accepted to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry where I am the headmaster. Why don't you try to do magic now, focus on something and just want it to move? Really try." Minerva could see Gail was already staring at a pencil that was lying on the kitchen counter. There were creases appearing in Gail's forehead from the concentration. Mr. Roberts was staring at Gail in horror because of what she was trying to do. He couldn't believe that Gail was really buying into this nonsense. He nearly passed out from shock when the pencil moved. He heard his wife gasp from across the room.

Next thing the pencil lifted into the air spun twice and fell back onto the counter. Gail spun around and smiled triumphantly at Ms. Mc Gonagall. Minerva smiled back at Gail but it was then that they noticed the expression on Mr. and Mrs. Roberts faces.

"Sarah, go upstairs and pack Abbeys things." Mr. Roberts said through gritted teeth. Mrs. Roberts looked from her husband to Gail and then ran past them and up the stairs. Mr. Roberts turned to stare at Gail who face had fallen into a look of deep confusion. He was staring at her with venom in his eyes.

"You're a monster. I can't believe I ever let you stay under my roof. If I had known I would never have took you in. How could I not have known what you truly were? Taking you in was the worst mistake we could have ever made." He was looking down at her furiously. She was staring up at him looking confused and they only broke eye contact as they heard the loud bang of a suitcase hit the floor after being flung down the stairs. This was the moment Kevin got up and strolled into the kitchen wondering what was going on. He looked confused by his father's expression and the sight of the strange woman standing in his kitchen.

"What's going on Dad? Why did mum throw a suitcase down the stairs and who's that?" Kevin asked nodding his head toward Minerva and looking at her curiously.

"That son is the woman who will be removing this thing from our home." Mr. Roberts was now staring down at Gail again. Kevin looked confused and said

"What are you talking about, what's she getting rid of exactly?" He didn't understand why his father was looking at his sister like that. His mother now walked into the kitchen looking disgusted when she saw his sister. Minerva was very troubled by the reaction of Mr. and Mrs. Roberts. She began to speak but was cut off by Mr. Roberts.

"I want you and this thing out of my house immediately." He turned to Gail.

"Your suitcase is in the hall now get out." He pointed toward the door, grabbing Gail's arm violently and pushing her through the door. Tears were now pouring down Gail's face.

"Dad what's wrong? I'm sorry please, why do I have to leave?" Mr. Roberts picked up the suitcase and shoved it into Gail's hands ignoring her pleas. Kevin and Mrs. Roberts followed the chaos into hall. Kevin was still looking bewildered and now echoed Gail's questions toward his father. Mr. Roberts now turned to look at his son. He had an odd expression on his face.

"This thing, the person we thought was a part of our family is nothing more than a monster. She's a witch." He practically spat the word at Gail.

"I'm glad that we only adopted you. If you shared our blood I don't know what I would do." Mr. Roberts was staring at Gail like she was nothing more than a piece of dirt on the carpet.

"I'm adopted, but . . . "Gail was now hysterical, looking at the man she had grown up thinking was her father. Mrs. Roberts was looking at Gail with the same expression as her husband. Kevin now took a step toward Gail.

"You're not really my sister. You're nothing more than a mutant and I never want to see you again" Kevin now had the same disgusted expression on his face as his parents as he looked at Gail. They didn't seem to notice the tears pouring down her face or they didn't care. Kevin took a step away from Gail and then spat into her face. Gail stood there shocked at what had happened. She was too shocked to even move to wipe her face. Minerva now stepped between Gail and the Roberts.

"That's enough. Please try and understand. There are hundreds of witches and wizards living throughout the world, and they aren't dangerous or scary. This isn't Gail's fault." Minerva said pleadingly trying to get the Roberts to understand. Instead Mr. Roberts screamed

"GET OUT NOW!" and raised his arm getting ready to hit Gail. Gail cringed away from the motion and Minerva reached out grabbing Gail's arm before Mr. Roberts hand came into contact with Gail's face.

The image around Gail swirled and she had the odd sensation that she was being sucked through the air, but she could still feel her hands clasped around her suitcase and Ms. Mc Gonagall's hand gripping her arm from where she had grabbed her. Gail felt the air leave her lungs as she was pulled through the apparent wind tunnel. When it finally stopped, she hit the ground with a thud. Her legs felt like liquid and she pulled a deep breath into her lungs.

She stood there panting, feeling the moisture on her face which was a mixture of her tears and Kevin's spit. She wiped her sleeve across her face, wiping the tears from her eyes to clear her vision. When she could see again she realized she was looking at the woman who had just caused her entire family to turn on her and once again her vision blurred with tears. The final burning memory of her family's faces looking at her in disgust.


	3. A New Beginning

A New Beginning

Minerva Mc Gonagall was standing in the middle of Diagon Alley with the newly discovered witch Abigail. Abigail was sitting on the pavement of the alley, leaning against her small suitcase crying. Minerva stood over the small huddled heap that was the crying Abigail, not knowing what to do. She couldn't get the image of the Roberts disgusted faces out of her own mind and she could only imagine how Gail must have felt.

Gail and Minerva were in the middle of Diagon Alley which was the main shopping street for most witches and wizards. There were only a few wizards still on the street as it was getting dark. One of the witches walked past Minerva and looked at Abigail. She them gave Minerva a strange look and then nodded her at head almost sympathetically. Minerva gave the woman a smile trying to assure her everything was alright but she wasn't so sure of that herself. Minerva looked back at Gail still huddled on the ground and wondered what to do.

Minerva walked slowly toward Gail and placed her hand on Gail's shoulder. Gail looked up suddenly and stared into Minerva's eyes. Her eyes were so full of pain it made Minerva want to take a step back but knowing it would only upset Gail she tried to look at her comfortingly. Gail stood up and wiped her sleeve across her drenched face. She picked up her small suitcase and looked at Minerva again. She could feel the small dent on the right of the suitcase where it had hit the floor when her mother threw it down the stairs. Gail flinched at the memory of the bang and then the images of her family's faces came back to her and a new wave of tears hit her. She wanted to sit on the ground again and cry but held the tears back.

"Well dear, welcome to Diagon Alley. Come on, this way." Ms. Mc Gonagall turned and walked down the street with Gail following behind her. The street was paved with cobblestones and Gail nearly tripped over own feet a few times trying to keep up with Ms. Mc Gonagall.

"Where are we going?" Gail said shakily. She was looking around quizzically at all of the shops on the street. She had never seen anything like them before. There were owls sitting in the windows and she could see small objects zooming around inside the shops. They looked like toy planes but as it was getting dark so she couldn't be sure. Minerva was still walking ahead of Gail but she could see that out of the corner of her eye Gail was looking around curiously at the shops. Minerva smiled to herself. The world of magic really was fascinating. She remembered her first time walking down this street going to Mr. Ollivanders wand shop to get her first wand. This was the shop that Minerva was taking Gail to now.

Mr. Ollivander had died many years ago and now the shop was run by his grandson. Although the shop still bore the original owners name. The shop hadn't changed much in all the years. The bell on the door rang with the same tickle as it had when Minerva first walked through the door and she smiled at the memory. Gail followed Minerva into the small shop. The shop smelled like the wooden furniture shop that she used to pass on her way to school but she couldn't see any furniture in this shop just hundreds of small rectangular boxes.

Next thing a middle aged man with snow white hair and blue eyes popped his head out of a doorway behind a large counter. He looked from Minerva to Gail and then smiled.

"Well looks like we have a new young witch looking for her first wand. You do look a bit old though dear, if you don't mind me saying so." Theodore Ollivander said looking Gail up and down. Minerva rolled her eyes at Theodore's behavior. He has always said exactly what he was thinking even if it might upset the person he was talking to. She had multiple problems with Theodore when he attended Hogwarts because of his attitude and getting into trouble because of his little comments, especially with teachers.

"Hello Theodore. It's been much too long. How has been business been?" Minerva said looking at her former student and once again noticed he had the same eyes as his grandfather Garrick. Theodore smiled at his old teacher and said cheekily.

"Hello Goggles. Business is booming as usual. All the little witches and wizards looking for their new magic wands and everybody knows my wands are the best." Minerva looked at him coldly remembering why he was never her favorite student.

"Theodore Ollivander how many times have I told you never to call me that?" Theodore smiled cheekily at her and pretended that he was thinking deeply.

"Well, counting today, about a thousand. Ah, fond members my dear Goggles." His eyes shone with the memories of his school days and Ms. Mc Gonagall's stern expression telling him off. Both of the adults looked up as they heard a small giggle come from the corner of the shop. Gail was smiling covering her mouth. She hadn't been able to hold back the small giggle at the conversation between the grand old witch and the eccentric looking man. Theodore smiled at Gail.

"She has a sense of humor. That's a wonderful thing to have young lady. Why not try calling Minerva here Goggles it drives her batty." He winked at Gail and another giggle escaped her lips but Minerva couldn't help noticing the redness of Gail's eyes from the crying. Theodore also noticed Gail's eyes and wondered why she was so upset.

Theodore then grabbed the sides of the ladder that was propped against the wall behind him and the ladder slid along the floor bringing Theodore across the shelves which held the rectangular boxes. He reached up plucking one of the boxes from the shelves and the ladder slid back to the front counter. Theodore climbed down from the ladder and placed the box on the counter. He looked up and beckoned Gail to come over to the counter.

Gail was staring wide eyed at the blue rectangular box sitting on the counter. She had heard Theodore and Ms. Mc Gonagall talk about wands but she could hardly believe that this shop really did sell them. Gail was curious though about what was in the box as she thought about the bird made from light that burst from the end of the piece of wood that Ms. Mc Gonagall had held earlier.

Gail took a few steps forward until she was only a foot away from the counter. She then turned and looked at Ms. Mc Gonagall to make sure that it was alright. Ms. Mc Gonagall smiled and nodded reassuringly at Gail to signal it was ok. Gail looked relieved and then turned to take the final few steps to the counter. She was now at the counter and could feel the cold smooth wood of the counter under her hands. She couldn't take her eyes off the box in front of her.

Theodore was standing behind the counter wondering why Gail seemed so fascinated by the wand box and why Minerva had a troubled look on her face. He shrugged it off thinking about how this wasn't the strangest person to ever walk onto his wand shop. He gently lifted the lid off the box and removed the long brown wand that was inside. He held the wand into the air almost as if to examine it although he was familiar with every wand in his shop.

"Eleven inches, made from the wood of a willow tree with a core made of a pheonix's tail feather." Theodore seemed to be talking to himself more than Gail but now looked back at her and held out the wand for her to take. Gail reached out tentatively to take the wand. She was staring down at the piece of wood in her hand like it would disappear. She was holding the wand so lightly she barely had any grip on it and Theodore wanted to tell her hold it more tightly thinking she would drop it but gradually her hand closed around the wand in her hand tighter.

Gail felt the smooth wood of the wand in her hand. It was light brown and felt comfortable in her hand. There was a slight curve in the handle of the wand that fit her hand comfortably. Gail didn't know what to do so still staring at the wand in her hand she said

"What am I supposed to do? Do I have to say something special or…" Gail paused and Minerva interjected

"Just point it and see what happens." Gail now pulled her gaze away from the wand and looked at Minerva. She then looked to Theodore and he nodded agreeing with Ms. Mc Gonagall. Now satisfied that all she had to do was point the wand she slowly raised it into the air hesitantly.

There was a loud bang as a flash of gold lightning burst violently from the tip of the wand. The light illuminated the entire shop before fizzling out and Gail looked up at Minerva to make sure that was the right reaction. Before Ms. Mc Gonagall could respond the wand in Gail's hand began to shudder. Minerva had never seen anything like this. Blue and white sparks where now flying out of the tip of the wand. Theodore also looked alarmed by the reaction of the wand to Gail which worried Minerva even more.

Suddenly Minerva was blinded by a flash of bright white light. She was blinded for a few seconds before her eyes adjusted to see a vicious fire flowing from the wand in Gail's hand. Gail was shaking the wand trying to stop the flow of the fire coming from it but it was burning her hand. It wasn't helping that the fire was now sticking to the wooden shelves engulfing the shop. Theodore had now withdrawn his own wand and was trying desperately to stop the raging fire that was burning up his shop.

Minerva also withdrew her wand trying to help Theodore. She couldn't get anywhere near Gail as there was fire swirling around her. The smoke was now beginning to fill her lungs and she started coughing. She could see Gail was also coughing violently and Theodore looked desperate, water shooting from his wand. Nothing was working and it was getting incredibly hot. Next thing there was a huge bang and Minerva was thrown backwards. She heard glass shatter and could hear the wooden shelves around her crackle as they burnt.

Gail was now holding her hand against her chest. She had finally been able to let go off the wand but her hand was horribly burnt. She could see Mr. Olivander trying to save his shop but it wasn't working. Gail felt Minerva once again grab her arm and she was pulled out of the burning shop. Other wizards were now gathering around the shop trying to help Mr. Ollivander.

Gail could see smoke pouring out of the shattered windows of the shop and didn't understand what had happened. One moment she had been doing magic and now the wand shop was on fire. She watched in horror as the wizards tried to put the fire out but nothing worked. The roof of the shop now caved in and all they could do was watch. Theodore Ollivander stood staring at the flaming spot where his shop had just been and couldn't believe it was gone.

Minerva now remembered Gail. She turned to see Gail once again with tears streaming down her face. Before Minerva could stop her Gail had run to Theodore and said through tears

"I am so sorry." Theodore didn't appear to hear her and Minerva went over and gently pulled Gail away knowing Theodore needed to be alone right now. She and Gail walked past the crowds of wizards who were watching the treasured place that they had purchased their wands over the year's burn to the ground.

Minerva walked along pulling Gail along beside her and once again Gail felt the sensation of being pulled through the air. When they stopped they were standing outside a large iron gate. Gail could see a huge castle like building on the hills in the distance. She turned to Ms. Mc Gonagall.

"Where are we? What is that place?" Gail asked. She could hardly concentrate. All she could focus on was how the sun was rising behind the building in the distance and it too looked like it was on fire. She thought about how destruction seemed to follow her. First her family, then the wand shop and now it appeared this strange building was on fire.

Minerva stood behind Gail gazing at the familiar sight in front of her and said

"This is Hogwarts." Gail looked back at the building again, now noticing the huge grounds around the building. There was a long stony pathway at the other side of the gate with huge trees on other either side. She could see that the trees stretched into a huge forest surrounding the castle. There was also a lake in the distance that was reflecting the image of the rising sun.

Minerva took out her wand and said something that was unfamiliar to Gail. Slowly the gates opened letting them onto the grounds. Gail saw her small suitcase out of the corner of her eye and she reached down instinctively to pick it up, still keeping her eyes on the building in the distance. When she touched the handle of the bag she recoiled from the pain. Remembering her hand now she looked down to see a long deep burn in the palm of her hand from where she had been holding the wand. The hand still felt like she was holding the red hot wand. Minerva walked over to Gail and took her hand to examine it. Minerva waved her wand over the wound trying to cool it down to give Gail some relief form the pain. She had never been good at healing spells so she would have to get the school nurse to look at the burn as soon as possible. Gail instantly felt a cool sensation flood across her hand. She flexed her fingers. The burn didn't look much better it but it definitely felt better.

Minerva and Gail began to walk down the pathway. Suddenly a carriage appeared from within the trees. It came down the pathway stopping next to Minerva and Gail. Gail took a step back looking horrified at the space at the front of the carriage. Minerva didn't understand what Gail was so afraid of until Gail pointed at the air at the front of the carriage and said shakily

"What is that?" Minerva was stunned. Very few people could see thestrals. Minerva had only begun to see the strange horse like beings that pulled the carriages about twenty years ago. Hardly any young witches or wizards could see the thestrals. The thestrals could only be seen by someone who had witnessed a death and Minerva found it unnerving that Gail could see them. She wondered why Gail could see the thestrals and what death she had witnessed. Minerva composed herself and went to pat the thestral on the back.

"This is a thestral. They can only be seen by very few people so most of the other students that come to Hogwarts think that the carriages pull themselves. I know they look a little odd but they are really quite gentle in nature." The thestral pushed its nose into Minerva hand and she rubbed it gently. Minerva thought it better not to tell Gail why she could see the thestrals. She didn't want to upset Gail if she didn't know who she had seen die or bring up any bad memories if she did remember witnessing the death. Gail took a tentative step toward the creature.

The thestral was a large creature shaped like a horse. It was grey black in colour and was so thin its bones were practically coming through its skin. There were wing like structures folded at its sides that looked like they were made of bone. It had a long face with white eyes. Gail was shaken by the look of the creature but went to stand next to Minerva. She reached her good hand out and stroked the thestrals back. Its skin was softer that she imagined it would be and the thestral turned its head nudging Gail's shoulder. She now ran her fingers down its long face and it made the same sort of noise a horse would make when it was happy.

Minerva smiled at the exchange as the thestrals were usually very shy toward new people. Minerva walked to the carriage and climbed inside with Gail following behind her. When they were inside and the door was shut firmly Gail felt the carriage begin to move forward.

"I will get the school caretaker to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow to buy books and other things that you will need." Gail looked up at this and looked confused

"What kind of things will I need?"

"Well you will need books and a cauldron for start and of course a broomstick." Minerva thought it better not to mention a wand as that obviously wouldn't be the best idea. She would have to remember to tell Mr. Ripes about the wand situation when she sent him to buy Gail's supplies at Diagon Alley. Gail was staring at Minerva while she was thinking.

"Why do I need a cauldron and a broomstick, am I going to studying cleaning?" Gail was looking worried now. She didn't know why she would need a broomstick for learning magic. Maybe this school wouldn't be anything like she thought.

"No, of course not Gail. The broomstick is because you will be learning to fly and the cauldron will be for potions. There will also be books for the other subject like charms and defense against the dark arts." Minerva was watching Gail's expression become more and more panicked.

"You mean I wouldn't be learning math's or English or any of the other subjects I learned at my old school?" Minerva looked at hey sympathetically.

"No I'm afraid not. Hogwarts is very different from your muggle school. Now before we get to the school and I show you around do you have any questions?" Minerva asked wondering what Gail would inquire about considering she had been through so much. Gail had a million questions she wanted to ask but narrowed them down to only few major ones.

"What is a muggle?" Minerva wasn't surprised by this question although she hadn't been expecting it to be the first one Gail would ask.

"A muggle is a non-magical being, someone who doesn't have any magical abilities. Does that answer your question?" Minerva said calmly. She could see that Gail was thinking about her next question.

"How did you find me? Was it Ms. Bellam is she a witch too?"

"Yes. I have been friends with Ms. Bellam for many years. She was the one who alerted me about you and yes she is a witch. Is there anything else you would like to ask?" Minerva asked.

"Yes." Gail paused then looking on the verge of tears managed to choke out

"Will Mr. Ollivander, the man who owned the wand shop be ok? What is he going to do now?" Minerva looked at Gail and said reassuringly

"Don't worry about Theodore. He will be fine. He has always been very resourceful even as a teenager and I'm sure he will have a wand shop up and running again in no time at all." Gail looked down at her burnt hand and whispered quietly

"Do you think he will ever forgive me for what I did?" Minerva could see Gail's eyes were beginning to fill with tears and she leaned over to pat Gail's hand.

"Don't worry Gail. You're not the first student to have a little mishap with a wand in Mr. Ollivanders shop. Everything will be fine." This in fact wasn't true. There had never been an incident in Mr. Ollivanders shop before. Minerva felt bad about lying to Gail but she knew telling the truth wouldn't help right now and only make Gail even more upset.

Gail looked up at Minerva holding back her tears.

"I have another question. If the Roberts aren't my parents, then who are?" Gail was looking questioningly into Ms. Mc Gonagall's eyes. Minerva looked back into the big sad eyes looking up at her and said softly:

"I don't know yet but I will try everything I can to find out, I promise." Gail said nothing turning her head to look out the window to stare at the trees. Minerva could tell Gail wasn't really seeing the trees but was thinking to herself. She sat back knowing that Gail needed to think right now. They were getting close to Hogwarts now and the carriage stopped suddenly as they reached the large front doors.

Minerva stepped out of the carriage with Gail following behind. Mr. Ripes appeared next to the carriage, picked up Gail's suitcase and walked away without a word to Ms. Mc Gonagall. He had always been a very rude man much like his the previous caretaker Mr. Filch who had retired a few years ago. Minerva opened the huge front doors and Gail walked into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the very first time.

As it was late and Gail looked exhausted Minerva took her straight to the Gryffindor common room. There were four houses in Hogwarts which were Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Since Ms. Mc Gonagall was head of Gryffindor house this is why she took Gail to this particular house.

There was a large painting of a woman on the wall. Minerva coughed and suddenly the woman in the painting jumped and glared in her direction.

"Can't I get a moment of peace? How on earth am I meant to get my beauty sleep?" Gail jumped at the shock of seeing the painting move. She thought about how she would have to get used to unusual things now that she was in the magical world. Minerva said a funny word to the painting and with a sigh from the woman in the painting it swung open and revealed a large room. Gail was too tired to really examine the room so just followed Ms. Mc Gonagall up a set of stairs silently. Minerva brought Gail to the room in the left tower because she knew there was a free bed there and Gail wouldn't have to move to another room when the other students arrived in a few days.

Gail sat down on the bed and looked around at the five other beds in the room. She had never shared a room before and it would be hard to get used to. She saw that her suitcase was next to the bed she had sat at. She didn't even know what her mother had packed. Minerva turned and looked at the image of Gail sitting sadly on the bed. She didn't know what to say to comfort Gail so she said

"The other students will be arriving in a few days. There will be plenty of people around soon so you won't be alone for long. Goodnight Gail. I will give you a proper tour of the castle in the morning." Minerva turned and shut the door behind her leaving Gail to go to sleep. As she was walking down the staircase she could hear the faint whimpers of crying coming from the room at the top of the left tower.

Gail didn't sleep at all that night. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the image of her former family's faces looking at her in disgust and Mr. Ollivander looking at his shop burn to the ground. It was all her fault. She felt so guilty she couldn't get the images out of her mind. Everything was going wrong and she was responsible. She cried herself to sleep.

When Gail woke up she wasn't sure if she should get up or wait for Ms. Mc Gonagall to come and get her. She had fallen asleep still wearing the same clothes from the day before. After a few minutes of sitting on the bed not knowing what to do she got up, the curiosity driving her mental. She walked slowly out of the room looking around her. She walked down the stairs and now took notice of the room she had ignored last night.

It was a large room with huge windows. Most of the furniture was shades of red and gold and there were sofas and armchairs all around the room. There were huge drapes hanging on the walls and wall hangings with the image of a gold lion on them. The colors made the room feel warm but it may have been because of the huge fireplace in the wall of the room. Gail didn't know how to get out of the room but luckily Ms. Mc Gonagall walked in at this moment.

"Well dear I hope you slept well." Minerva very politely ignored the red puffiness of Gail's eyes.

"I hope you're ready for your tour." Minerva smiled and led Gail out of the room to show her the rest of the castle. Gail looked fascinated as she walked beside Minerva. The castle was huge and Gail was dreading when in a few days it would be full of young witches and wizards. There were butterflies in her stomach just thinking about it.


	4. Sorted

Sorted

It didn't take Gail long to learn where everything was at Hogwarts. Minerva had given Gail a very detailed tour of the school but that didn't stop Gail from getting lost as soon as Minerva had left her. Gail didn't mind though as it gave her a chance to figure out where things were for herself. She didn't want to be getting lost when classes started.

Gail's favorite room was the clock tower. She could see everything from the huge window next to the clock. She had stumbled on it by accident. She knew the room she had slept was up in a tower up a steep step of stairs so when she saw the staircase she walked up hoping it would lead to her room. However it had led to the huge clock window that she could see the entire grounds of the school from. There was a slight breeze there and Gail sat up there for hours looking at the amazing view of the area around the school grounds. It was very high up but Gail was never bothered by heights.

Gail also liked the library. She had found that on purpose though. She loved reading and she wanted to look over her new books considering she had never even heard of most of the subjects that they were on. When she had eventually wandered down from the clock tower and found the library she now needed her books. Gail didn't know where she would find the books she needed but when she eventually found her room again, the books were stacked neatly on the bedside table. Most of the books had a lot of words in them that she didn't understand so she spent the majority of her time in the library trying to figure out what they said. There were so many rooms in the castle that Gail constantly got lost but now she knew where almost everything was.

Tomorrow was the day the other students were arriving. Gail was panicking over this fact. She liked the way she could walk around the castle. She could sit in the library and read without anyone whispering or talking too loudly. She especially liked sitting in the clock tower all by herself looking at the view and feeding the small birds that would land in the palm of her hand. She knew that this was probably the last time she would be able to this. The small bird finished off the last of the bird seed in Gail's hand that she had found in the kitchen. It chirped and flew away. Gail watched it fly away, wishing she could do the same.

Gail was nervous about when the other students arriving later and was in the library thinking about this when she got up and began walking toward the Gryffindor common room. Ms. Mc Gonagall had explained to her about the different houses on her second day. She hoped the sorting hat would put her in Gryffindor. She had gotten used to her room in the tower and she wasn't sure she would have liked to be somewhere like Slytherin which was in the dungeon. She was now standing at the portrait of the fat lady which was the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. The fat lady smiled not even requesting the password from Gail.

Gail looked at the uniform laid on her bed and her hands started shaking with nerves. When she was dressed she went back to the clock tower to try and calm down. She heard a train whistle blow in the distance and then saw small lights coming across the lake. The other students had arrived. The first years were coming across the lake in the boats and everyone else would come in the carriages pulled by the thestrals. She remembered the soft skin of the thestral and smiled thinking about how most of the students wouldn't be able to see them.

Mr. Ripes had been carrying cases up to the common room all afternoon. Also owls had begun arriving in cages and were now sitting in the tower at the opposite end of the school designated as the owlery. Owls brought mail to witches and wizards in the magical world. Gail couldn't believe it when she had first seen the big brown owl drop a letter onto Ms. Mc Gonagall's desk and she had picked it up causally like nothing extraordinary had happened. Ms. Mc Gonagall had explained this to Gail after noticing her shocked expression.

Gail heard the murmur of voices floating up to the clock tower as she saw the students walking through the schools large front doors. They looked like small dots from where she stood looking down on them from the clock tower. Gail was clutching the barrier tightly trying to see how many students were arriving. There were only singular little black dots so far but they were beginning to thicken into a huge group of people. The butterflies in Gail's stomach started fluttering faster.

Ms. Mc Gonnagall had told Gail earlier that she would have to walk into the grand hall with the first years. Gail was upset about this at first but she knew people would figure out she was different eventually. They might as well learn it the very first day. Save her the trouble of hurting more people. She cringed at the memory of Mr. Ollivanders and her family's faces. Now the wand shop was gone and it was all her fault. Ms. Mc Gonagall had been receiving letters inquiring where the students could get there wands over the last few days. Luckily most of them already had there wands but it had still caused a lot of problem for Ms. Mc Gonagall. This was also the point where Minerva had to explain to Gail that she couldn't have a wand. Gail understood why. It was so she didn't hurt anyone else. Ms. Mc Gonagall had been helping her try to learn to do magic without a wand but it wasn't going well. Every time she would try to do something small every object in the room would move or something would explode.

The clock hit half six and Gail ran down the stairs. She didn't want to be late for walking into the great hall with the new first years even though she would be in fourth year. It was bad enough she had to do it but running down the hall to catch up with the group of first years would definitely attract even more attention to her. The first years were standing outside the door of the great hall looking nervous. Gail slowed down and steadied her breathing to stand at the back of the group. The door now opened and they were ushered into the hall by Professor Coffger, one of the other teachers. When the doors opened every head in the room turned to stare at the group of first years.

Gail looked around at the faces staring at her. She could see Ms. Mc Gonagall at the top of the room standing behind the golden owl podium. The other teachers were sitting at a long rectangular table behind her. The four flags representing the four Hogwarts houses hanging on the wall above them and there were hundreds of lighted candle floating in the air above the heads in the great hall.

Minerva had a calm look on her face as the first years walked slowly towards her. They looked scared but were nothing compared to the terrified face of Gail that was clearly visible above the short heads of the first years. Everyone was in fact staring at the scared looking brown haired girl walking up the hall with the first years even though she was clearly older.

The sorting hat was sitting on a low stool a few feet away from Ms. Mc Gonagall. It appeared to be sleeping but it suddenly let out a low grumble. Minerva looked up at the noise but assuming the sorting hat had merely moaned in his sleep ignored the noise. Next thing the hat moved suddenly almost falling off the stool. It started saying the word Gryffindor over and over again first very low and then as the group of first years got closer louder and louder. Minerva was staring at the hat with alarm wanting to tell it to control itself. The first years were now stopped at the base of the podium staring at the hat that was now screaming the word Gryffindor. The word echoed around the great hall. All eyes were now turned to the sorting hat.

Minerva now looked at Professor Flitwick who got up, picked up the sorting hat and walked with it out of the room. Minerva turned to the confused students:

"First years will come with me to be sorted individually and all other students are to go to their houses." Prefects and professors got up, leading the rest of the students out of the hall. Minerva led the first years out a side door and put them in a separate room. She stood there until Professor Longbottom walked into the room. She nodded to him and left the room to deal with the sorting hat.

When she walked into the charms classroom the sorting hat was panting on the table while Professor Flitwick sat next to it. They both looked up as they she walked into the room.

"Minerva I apologize for my behavior in the great hall a moment ago. I don't know what came over me. I just couldn't stop myself." The sorting hat said looking bewildered. Professor Flitwick also looked worriedly at Minerva.

"That's quite alright. If you are able I would like to sort the first years one by one." The sorting hat composed himself and said

"Absolutely, send them in." Minerva nodded thankfully to the sorting hat and walked out of the room. Professor Flitwick followed.

"Filius, keep an eye on the sorting process. I want to know if the sorting hat has a strong reaction to any particular students." Minerva said to Professor Flitwick. He nodded and walked back into the room with the sorting hat. Ms. Mc Gonagall walked back to the room with the first year students. As she walked in she heard Professor Longbottom giving a lecture about herbology to the confused faces of the new students. She walked over to him and patted his shoulder to tell him to go. He turned and smiled realizing he had been rambling and left the room.

Minerva took a long role of parchment out of a drawer in the desk to her right. She read out the first name on the list and Lily Potter got up and walked to the room with the sorting hat. She looked back at her cousin Hugo as she left the room. Gail watched the small red haired girl leave the room and she was anxious about when she would have to be sorted. Gail was confused about what had happened with the sorting hat and wanted to ask Ms. Mc Gonagall but thought it better to ask her later.

After about an hour, there were only a few students left to be sorted. Gail was one of them. She had sat on a stool watching the first years file out of the room one by one. There was only one other student beside herself left in the room. Ms. Mc Gonagall now called the boy's name and he ran eagerly toward the door. She had left Gail for last as technically she didn't have a last name and Minerva didn't want to embarrass her by having to just call her by her first name.

Gail was now sitting alone in the room. Minerva called her and Gail got up slowly to follow Minerva into the Charms classroom. The room was smaller than the defense against the dark arts classroom. She knew this because that was the room Professor Mc Gonagall had been teaching her do magic without a wand. There was a large dark wooden desk at the top of the room and there were long rows of desks on either side of the room. Large stacks of books were piled on all the desks and scattered along the floor. Professor Flitwick was standing in front of the large desk and the sorting hat was on a chair next to him.

Gail followed Ms. Mc Gonagall up the room and Professor Flitwick picked up the sorting hat. Ms. Mc Gonagall pointed to the chair that the sorting hat had been sitting at, indicating for Gail to sit down. Gail sat down nervously and Professor Flitwick placed the large brown sorting hat onto her head. Professor Flitwick stood back and gave Ms. Mc Gonagall an odd look. She was now on high alert and looked at the sorting hat sitting on top of Gail's head. Gail looked terrified and the sorting hat looked like he was holding his breath.

Usually the sorting hat would give a long drawn out speech examining the mind carefully before he would choose a suitable house for the student. However this time the sorting hat only let out the single word of Gryffindor. He seemed to have been holding it back and the word burst out of his mouth more like a scream. Professor Flitwick and Professor Mc Gonagall jumped with surprise. They gave each other a startled look. Professor Mc Gonagall looked back at Filius realizing that the look he gave her before was because Gail was the student the sorting hat was having a strong reaction to.

Gail breathed out a sigh of relief when she heard the hat say Gryffindor but she was concerned at the panicked faces of Professor Flitwick and Professor Mc Gonagall. Suddenly the hat was taken off her head and Professor Mc Gonagall was leading her out of the classroom.

"Gail congratulations. Now go to your room and get some sleep. Classes start in the morning." Minerva smiled down at the happy face of Gail. She watched Gail walk in the direction of the Gryffindor common room and then walked quickly walked back to Professor Flitwick. She could see he was talking to the sorting hat nervously.

"Minerva, that girl Gail was the only student the hat had any real reaction to." He was looking at her confused glancing back and forth from the panting sorting hat to her. She now looked at the sorting hat too.

"Really why do you think that is?" The sorting hat now looked up at Minerva.

"I don't know Minerva. There was just something in the girls mind. I don't know what it was but there was definitely something. She was definitely the one I had the reaction to in the Great Hall earlier. I tried to restrain myself when the girl walked in as not to alarm her." The sorting hat looked like he was thinking deeply.

"Don't worry about it. Everything is fine. Thank you very much for your assistance tonight. It is much appreciated." Professor Mc Gonagall smiled at the sorting hat as Professor Flitwick carried him out of the room. She stood in the classroom thinking until Professor Flitwick returned.

"What do you think about all this Minerva?" He was looking at her questioningly.

"I don't know Filius. It is rather odd isn't it?" She looked back at him still deep in thought. Professor Flitwick now sat down on the chair in front of the desk and sighed. The first day of term was always exhausting. He thought about what had happened with the sorting hat and said

"Were her parents in Gryffindor? Maybe that could be why the hat had such a strong reaction." Filius was trying to be helpful but his comment only made Minerva seem more upset.

"Actually she grew up with a muggle family. They adopted her a few days after she was found on the doorstep outside an orphanage. I called and the orphanage has no idea who she is or who her parents are. All they know is her name was Abigail because there was a piece of paper in the basket with her." Professor Flitwick now understood why Minerva looked so confused.

"Really? That is extremely odd. So you have no idea who this girl's parents are? Are you trying to find out?"

"Of course I am but there are no records and I'm finding it impossible to find out anything." Minerva sighed deeply and started walking toward the door. Tomorrow would be very difficult. She was teaching classes all morning and then she would have to write more letters trying to find out who Gail's parents were. It was going to be a very difficult day tomorrow. Professor Flitwick watched Professor Mc Gonagall leave the room and then thought about his own day tomorrow and sighed.

Gail was now standing outside her room. She was nervous about going in and meeting her new roommates. She pressed her ear against the door but she couldn't hear anything. Gail felt her heart beating and she walked nervously through the door. There were five other girls in the room already asleep. Their trunks and books sitting at the end of the beds ready for tomorrows classes. Gail crept quietly across the room not wanting to wake the other girls, that wouldn't have made the best first impression. A white cat with an orange spot on his back brushed against Gail's legs nearly causing her to trip. She regained her balance and the cat jumped onto the bed next to hers. Gail watched the cat lie down at the feet of the black curly haired girl.

Gail lay down on her own bed exhausted. She was relieved that she didn't have to move room. Gail looked out of the window to the right of her bed and she could see full moon half hidden behind a cloud over the forest. She was nervous about tomorrow and her new classes. She wondered what the other girls in her room would be like and she looked over at their sleeping silhouettes. She closed her eyes and went to sleep. Once again she had nightmares about the burning wand shop and her former family's reaction to hearing that she was a witch, a monster.


	5. Friends

Friends

Gail woke up late on her first morning of classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When she woke up there was no one else in the room. The white and orange cat that had nearly tripped her last night was sitting on her bedside table staring at her. After she had hurriedly put on her new uniform she ran down the steep staircase and into the common room. The common room was empty when she walked in and Gail guessed that everyone was in the Great Hall eating breakfast. Gail walked out of the common room and headed in the direction of the Great Hall.

There were a few students walking along the halls, mostly in groups. They didn't look up at as Gail walked past them. They didn't even seem to notice her. The only people that appeared to notice Gail's presence was a small group of three girls. One of the girls looked up at Gail wide eyed as they passed her and then nudged her friend. The girl that she had nudged also looked up and they whispered to each other. Both of the girls were staying in the same room as Gail and they recognized her. They were both a little unnerved by the girl who had kept them up all night crying and talking in her sleep. They had gotten up early so they wouldn't have to talk to the strange girl and were glad she didn't recognize them.

Gail was now only a few feet away from the Great Hall. She could hear the clatter of plates being passed around the room and the murmur of the different conversations of the other students. Gail walked into the room nervously trying not to be noticed. No one noticed when she walked in. There was only a small group of students at each table as most had gone to get ready for their classes. Most of the other students were talking to their friends. Gail sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table. She didn't know anyone yet so she sat by herself. There were a group of kids were sitting a little bit away from her and she could see them out of the corner of her eye. She recognized one of the girls from being sorted last night. She thought back and remembered her name was Lily Potter.

Lily Potter was sitting with her two older brothers James and Albus and her cousins Hugo and Rosie. She didn't know the names of the rest of the group but they all vaguely looked alike so Gail assumed they were related. Suddenly a tall boy with blue hair strolled into the room holding hands with a pretty blonde girl. The couple walked over and sat down next to the group. The blue haired boy tousled the brown hair of the boy with glasses and the blonde girl rolled her eyes sitting down at the table.

"Teddy, leave Albus alone." The blonde girl spoke with a slight accent but Gail couldn't place it. The blue haired boy who was apparently called Teddy laughed and sat down next to her.

"Ah Victoria, Albus doesn't mind, do you?" Teddy looked at Albus but before he could respond the older boy with dark hair and green eyes interrupted

"Ok that's enough. Albus is fine don't worry about it Vicky." He smiled at her reassuringly and winked at Teddy who laughed even harder. The boy however ignored the irritated expression of Albus. Once again Victoria rolled her eyes

"Don't call me Vicky, James. How many times have I asked you that?" The dark haired boy who was called James ignored her comment and sat down again, laughing with Teddy. Victoria turned frustrated to Lily who was sitting to her right.

"Lily I don't know how you do it. I would go crazy if I had to live in a house with James and Albus as brothers." She smiled cheekily at James who now rolled his eyes. Lily giggled looking at her brothers. Before she could say anything James piped in:

"Lily can handle us; she's a lot tougher than you Vicky. You complain constantly and you're just our cousin." Victoria laughed at this and Teddy put his arm around her shoulders.

"I suppose I don't have any right to complain after all poor Rosie and Hugo also have to deal with being your cousins." Victoria gave a fake sympathetic look to the reddish brown haired boy Hugo and his light brown haired sister Rosie. They smiled back at Victoria and laughing. Victoria and Teddy started filling their plates with the food in front of them while their family sat talking as they had already finished eating.

Gail too began to put food on her plate but she only ate a few bites before she realized she wasn't hungry. She was still listening to the conversation going on a few feet away from her. Suddenly the red haired girl Lily got up and pulled on her brother James sleeve. James turned and got up picking up his books from the table.

"Come on Lily, I'll show you to your first class. Bye guys I promised I'd show Lily where the herbology room was. Hugo, you coming?" Hugo looked up from the mountain of food still on his plate and got up reluctantly to follow James and Lily out of the Great Hall.

Gail watched them go and knew how Lily and Hugo felt although at least they knew people. Gail got up picking up her books and started walking to the potions room. She wondered if she would be in the same classes as any of the group she had seen at breakfast. Two of the older kids, James and Rosie looked like they could be the same age as her. When she got to the potion room Professor Twills wasn't there yet. He was the potions teacher and he had told Gail the day before that because the other students had been in the class a lot longer and already had partners she would be at the back desk by herself. Gail didn't mind this. She didn't want to hold anyone back as she knew she wouldn't understand half the stuff that was going on in the class.

All of the desks were full now as students didn't want to be late on the first day. They were all sitting at their desks telling their partners about their summer. Gail was glad she wouldn't have to discuss her summer with anyone as she didn't really want to discuss what had happened with her former family. Gail walked to the desk at the back of the room and put down her books. She looked up at the sound of the door opening assuming it would be Professor Twills but instead the boy called James from breakfast walked in followed by his cousin Rosie.

Rosie sat at the front desk next to a girl with glasses and James walked over a group of boys and they began to talk and laugh loudly. The door opened again and Professor Twills walked into the room carrying a funny looking plant. The students standing up scattered to sit down quickly. James sat halfway up the room in the middle row next to a boy who he continued to talk to even after Professor Twills had told the class to be quite. Professor Twills surveyed the class and then said:

"Oh no. I don't think so Mr. Potter. I will not be having a repeat of last year when the most productive thing you and your partner Mr. Collins did was discuss quidditch." Professor Twills looked around the room and looked straight at Gail and then back to James Potter.

"Mr. Potter please take your things to the back of the room and sit next to Abigail. She will be your new partner." Now everyone turned to stare at Gail as they were unfamiliar with someone called Abigail in their class. Gail felt herself cringe as the twenty pairs of eyes bore into her. She could see James from across the room get up looking annoyed at having to move away from his friend and sit next to her. She looked at Professor Twills pleadingly begging him with her eyes to change his mind. She didn't want a partner. She wanted to be by herself. Professor Twills looked back at her sympathetically but he knew this was best. This would keep James subdued and help Gail make friends.

James picked up his books and walked to the back of the room and sat down next to the girl called Abigail. He glared at Professor Twills and he saw Rosie smile telling him not to take his anger out at the new girl but at least try to be nice. He was going to take Rosie's silent advice and introduce himself to Abigail but Professor Twills started the class. James didn't get a chance to introduce himself but he could see throughout the class that Abigail was struggling with what was going on. He wondered why this girl seemed so confused if she was in fourth year then she must have transferred from another school. Surely this couldn't be her very first day coming to a magical school, could it?

Gail took notes furiously through the entire class. She was going to have to go over these later and try to make sense of them. She also drew a small diagram of the unusual plant Professor Twills had brought in into the corner of her page. James could see her taking notes and thought how the drawing she did of the plant was very good. She was a really good artist and the diagram was extremely detailed.

When the class was finished James started to say to Abigail what he thought of her drawing but he was interrupted by his friend, Tobias Collins. When he had finished talking to Tobias Abigail had already left the room. Rosie now walked over to him

"James, who was that girl Abigail? I didn't recognize her. Is she new?" Rosie inquired curiously. James looked at his cousin

"Actually I don't know. I didn't really get a chance to talk to her. Tobias…" Rosie rolled her eyes at the mention of Tobias's name.

"James, Tobias is an idiot. That girl Abigail is probably going to be your partner all year, you have to talk to her. It's going to be really awkward if you have to sit next to the girl every day and you never bother to talk to her. I didn't recognize her so she's probably new and doesn't know anyone so please try and make an effort." Rosie said seriously.

"Don't worry Rosie, I will. It was the very first day and I only sat next to the girl for half an hour, we are hardly going to be best friends." He could see Rosie was annoyed with him and he said quickly before she got the chance to give him a lecture.

"If I see her at dinner I'll talk to her ok?I promise." Rosie looked satisfied at his response and walked out of the room heading to her next class. James did the same and seeing Tobias ahead of him ran to catch up.

Gail found the classes were much more difficult than she had anticipated. The professors were nice but she didn't understand most of what they said, although most of the professors did offer to give her help in the afternoon after the scheduled classes. None of the other students had talked to her yet and she didn't mind. She liked sitting at the back of the classes by herself taking notes. It was hard enough trying to understand what was going on in classes without someone trying to make small talk with her. The only time she had sat next to someone all day was in potions with James but even he hadn't talked to her.

Gail was sitting in the library studying when she saw James's cousin Rosie walked in. All the tables were free because most people were catching up with the friends they hadn't seen all summer but Rosie still sat at the table that Gail was at. Rosie looked at Abigail and smiled trying to friendly. Gail smiled back sheepishly and Rosie asked:

"So, Abigail right? I'm Rosie. I was in your potions class earlier. You sat next to my cousin James." Gail looked up at the question and nodded to answer the question.

"Everyone calls me Gail." This was the first time she had talked to someone all day.

"I haven't seen you before. You must be new, did you transfer from somewhere?" Rosie asked the question trying to make polite small talk but Gail suddenly had a very sad expression on her face. Gail replied hesitantly

"Actually, this is my first day at a magical school." Rosie was stunned by Gail's answer. She looked at Gail again. The girl was in her year so she must be about sixteen. How could this be her very first day at a magical school? Rosie kept a cool expression on her face and continued the conversation.

"Really? So this must be really strange for you coming to a magical school. My parents are wizards so it wasn't a shock to start here. Are your parents wizards?" Rosie asked the question innocently but for some reason Gail looked on the verge of tears. Rosie was confused by Gail's response. Gail hastily got up, picked up her books and started to leave the room. Before she left she managed to say to Rosie:

"No, I grew up in the muggle world. They threw me out when they found out I was a witch." The tears were now pouring down Gail's face. Gail had her back to Rosie but Rosie could tell that Gail was crying because she raised her hand to wipe her face. Gail left the room quickly and Rosie thought it better not to mention this to James or anyone else as obviously it was a very touchy subject with her. Gail was new and Rosie didn't want to make it even more difficult for her to make friends. She knew Gail was having trouble so far as very few people came to the library on the first day. Rosie was at the only library because she had picked up the habit from her mother.

Gail went straight to the clock tower to calm down after her conversation with Rosie. She sat up there for about an hour before hearing the bell for dinner. Gail climbed down the staircase and walked to the Great Hall. When she entered the tables were still pretty much empty but some students were sitting in groups eating. Gail could see the group containing Rosie and James that she had seen at breakfast, sitting in the middle of the table. Rosie looked up when she walked in and beckoned her over. Gail looked behind her thinking Rosie might be signaling someone else. Rosie saw Gail's confusion and she got up and walked to Gail

"Hey Gail! Would you like to come and sit with me and my family?" Rosie asked with a friendly smile. Gail nodded hesitantly as she was still shaken from their conversation earlier. She followed behind Rosie who walked them to sit down with the rest of her family. Rosie sat down next to Victoria and Gail sat down next to Rosie leaving a few inches between them.

"This is Gail everyone." Rosie introduced Gail and her family looked at her wondering why she had asked this strange girl who looked like she had been crying to come and sit with them. They all nodded politely to Gail and murmured quite hellos. Gail smiled weakly at their greetings. Rosie glared at James and he quickly asked Gail

"So Gail you're new around here. Did you transfer from somewhere?" Gail looked more composed as she answered James question then when she had answered the same question from Rosie earlier.

"No actually this is my first time at a magical school." Gail answered the question looking down at her plate. Everyone listening to Gail's answer was shocked. She was in fourth year and no one could really believe this was her first day at a magical school. Hugo who was youngest even knew this was odd. He blurted out

"But you're older than me and it's my first day." Gail looked embarrassed by the comment and Rosie glared at her little brother. He shrugged off her look and began eating again. James was staring shocked at the brown haired girl and asked

"Did your parents home school you?" Gail cringed and Rosie really wanted to tell James to be quite but Gail composed herself quickly and answered

"I grew up in the muggle world." Every jaw at the table dropped. Now Rosie was glad that Gail was looking down at her hands. Rosie kicked James from under the table to snap him out of it. He looked at Rosie and then saw everyone else was as stunned as he was. Victoria snapped out of the daze too and blurted out:

"You must be at least sixteen. How have you been learning magic for the last few years?" Luckily for Gail, Professor Mc Gonagall walked into the Great Hall at this moment. She walked straight over to Gail and tapped her on the shoulder. Minerva could see Gail was sitting with the Potters and Weasleys. They were good kids and Minerva was glad Gail was making friends. She had been worried about Gail making friends as she was so shy.

"Excuse me kids but I need to borrow Gail." Gail got up and stood behind Ms. Mc Gonagall. Rosie smiled at her headmaster and said:

"No problem Professor." Rosie leaned back to look around Professor Mc Gonagall to say goodbye to Gail but she was still looking at the ground and only nodded at the goodbye. Professor Mc Gonagall smiled at Rosie who looked so like her mother Hermione and walked out of the room with Gail following behind her. Gail looked up and smiled back at the group before leaving the room.

They watched her go and when she had left the room everyone pounced on Rosie. Rosie shushed them all because she couldn't understand what they were saying as they were all talking at once. Victoria was the first to speak

"Who is that girl? What does she mean she has never been in a magical school before? That's not possible is it?" Victoria had pretty much asked what everyone was thinking. Rosie answered the question

"I don't know. I was talking to her in the library earlier and she said exactly the same thing. I wonder why Professor Mc Gonagall needed her." Everyone ignored Rosie's final question they were all to focused on the fact that Gail was sixteen and had never learned magic before. Teddy looked at James and said holding back the laughter.

"Isn't Gail your potions partner James. So she has never taken magical classes before, you're in big trouble dude." Teddy now couldn't suppress the laughter and it exploded out of him. Victoria elbowed Teddy in the ribs and he quieted down but they could still hear him chuckling softly. James now realized this fact too and his face fell. He wasn't that good at potions and he could usually blame Tobias if he got a bad score. Now a bad score would be mostly his fault.

"I have to ask Professor Twills to change partners." James said panicking. Rosie glared at him and said sternly

"You will not ask Professor Twills for a new partner. Gail is perfectly nice although she is a little shy. If you ask Professor Twills for a new partner straight away think about she'll feel. It won't be that bad. She was in the library studying earlier so obviously she cares about her marks and it wouldn't do you any harm to pay attention in class. Please make an effort to be nice to Gail." Rosie was angry at the way James was behaving. He was being incredibly insensitive. Rosie couldn't get the image of the crying Gail standing shaking in the library. She didn't tell the others about this though. Rosie looked at Victoria for support.

"Rosie is right James. Think about how Lily would feel if her partner in a class asked to be moved away after the very first day." Victoria said supportively. James now looked to his little sister whose face had fallen at the thought of her partner abandoning her. Lily was clearly upset and James felt bad about thinking about doing that to Gail and Lily had all of them Gail had no one.

"Fine. I won't ask Professor Twills for a new partner. I promise I will talk to Gail, Rosie." James looked back at Lily who was once again smiling happily eating her desert. Rosie looked relieved by James' promise and went back to eating. Albus who had been silent through the entire conversation now chimed in:

"Still it is a little odd that she grew up in the muggle world and has never been in a magical school before." No one could argue with this point and they carried on eating while Teddy changed the subject asking Lily and Hugo about their first day.

Professor Mc Gonagall and Gail were in the defense against the dark arts classroom. Mr. Ripes the school care taker had cleared all the desks to the side of the room and Gail was sitting next to Professor Mc Gonagall at the top of the room. Minerva was trying to teach Gail how to do basic magic without a wand. There was a small wooden box at the center of the room and Gail was trying to levitate it. It wasn't going well. Every time she tried to lift the box all the desks would lift into the air but the box would remain firmly on the ground.

Gail was getting more and more frustrated at the little progress she had made over the last few days. She thought that she was even getting worse but Professor Mc Gonagall was always encouraging her despite the fact that there was no apparent improvement. Gail was exhausted and she wanted to go to her room and fall asleep before the other girls went to bed so she wouldn't have to talk to them. She didn't think she could handle another conversation about how this was her first day at a magical school and the shocked expressions on their faces. She had had to have the conversation twice already and she couldn't handle another. The last time she couldn't run to the clock tower to calm down and she had had to hold back the tears.

Professor Mc Gonagall could see how tired Gail was and she let her go earlier than usual. Gail left the room silently without another word and went straight to her room to go to sleep. When she left Minerva wondered how Gail's first day had gone and she was glad that Gail had made friends with the Potters. However Minerva was a little troubled by the expressions that were on the kids' faces when she had gone to get Gail from the Great Hall. She guessed Gail had probably just told them she had never been to a magical school before or she was raised by muggles. That would be definitely be a shock to kids who had grown up in magical households. Minerva also wondered if Gail had told them about how her family had thrown her out but she didn't think that Gail would have told them that. She still cringed at the word parents.

Rosie saw Gail walk through the common room and up the stairs to the tower. It was still early and the common room was full of people but no one seemed to notice Gail walk through the room. Gail didn't greet anyone either and as she disappeared up the stairs Rosie wondered what Gail and Professor Mc Gonagall had been doing for the last year. She looked up and saw James, Victoria and Teddy were also staring after Gail and they all exchanged a worried glance wondering about the strange new addition to the Gryffindor house.


	6. Target

Target

The first few days of Gail's first term at Hogwarts went quickly. The classes were in the morning and Gail spent most of her afternoons in the library studying. She also spent a lot of time in the clock tower. Not many students went to the clock tower in the right wing of the castle. Some were bothered by the height but most of the students couldn't take the loud ticking of the clocks steel arms counting the minutes go by. The worst thing about the clock tower was every hour the clock let out a loud ringing noise that echoed around the entire school grounds but Gail loved the clock tower despite all of these things. It had its redeeming qualities too. This was the incredible view of the school grounds and this was why Gail would sit there for hours.

It was the loud chime of the clock that woke Gail up that morning. When she woke up she could hear the other girls in her room moving around getting ready for class. The white cat with the orange spot on his back was once again staring at her from her bedside table. Gail would have to ask the girl who owned the cat called Shannon to keep it away from her. Gail hadn't gotten to know any of her roommates yet. She had the funny feeling they didn't want to get to know her. Gail realized her face was wet again this morning. She had been crying in her sleep again. She thought maybe this was the reason that other girls were avoiding her. She got up and the other girls quickly left the room without talking to her.

Gail didn't have many friends but she had been talking to the girl Rosie Weasley a lot and she had sat with the Weasleys and the Potters at meals. They were nice and Gail liked them even though the blonde one called Victoria still gave her funny looks sometimes. When Gail walked into the Great Hall for breakfast none of the group she usually sat with was there. Gail was a little relieved at this because if they had been there she would have had to make the decision to go straight to them or wait for one of them to call her over. She didn't want them to feel like they had to deal with her and she knew they would be too polite to ask her to go away. It was still early and students were still sleepily filtering into the Great Hall.

Gail was in the middle of eating when she felt something hit the back of her head. She looked down to see what had hit her. There was a bread roll on the floor at her feet. Gail turned in the direction the bread roll had come from and saw a large group of boys sitting laughing at the Slytherin table. One boy with white slicked back hair was staring at her nastily. Gail guessed he had been the one to throw the roll as the other boys were patting him on the back like he had won an award. She looked back the plate in front of her and carried on eating. She had plenty of experience with people like the boy with white hair and she knew that fighting back would only make things worse.

Teddy Lupin and James Potter now walked into the Great Hall. Rosie, Hugo, Lily, Albus and Victoria followed behind them. Teddy saw Gail sitting near the top of the table and he began to walk towards her. Gail had been sitting with them for a few days now and she was nice although a little shy. They had been shocked when they had met her the first time, finding out she had never been to a magical school before but she was pretty normal otherwise. Gail got on with all of them very well especially Rosie. The only person who was still a bit edgy around Gail was his girlfriend Victoria. Victoria couldn't get past the fact Gail had grown up in the muggle world and never done magic before. She was coming around though and had sat next to Gail a few times.

As Teddy got closer to Gail, James broke away from him to sit with his friend Tobais. Teddy didn't particularly like Tobias, none of his family did. The Potters and Weasleys weren't technically Teddy's family but James' father Harry was Teddy's godfather and Teddy spent more time at the Potter house than his grandparents. He considered the Potters and the Weasleys his cousins and they did the same especially since he was dating their cousin Victoria.

When Teddy was a few feet away from Gail he saw Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius was Teddy's second cousin and they despised each other. Scorpius didn't see Teddy walking up the hall but Teddy saw Scorpius stand up, pick up a roll and throw it directly at Gail's head. Gail didn't react to the roll hitting her hard in the back of the head but Teddy could see more rolls at Gail's feet. Scorpius had thrown more than one roll and Teddy began to walk faster up the hall. Victoria and Rosie who were walking behind Teddy also saw what Scorpius had done and ran after Teddy. Gail didn't see them approach her and Scorpius didn't either. Still standing he reached back to throw another roll. This time Teddy caught the roll midair before it could hit Gail in the back of the head. Gail now turned around noticing Teddy, Victoria and Rosie. Teddy could see small pieces of bread stuck in Gail's hair from where the rolls had hit her.

Gail noticed that Teddy had a furious expression on his face Rosie and Victoria were standing next to him looking at him worriedly. Gail saw that Teddy was holding a bread roll but she hadn't noticed him take one from the table. Suddenly he flung the roll violently across the room at the white haired boy. Rosie and Victoria tensed. Scorpius had definitely noticed his second cousin now and looked down at the bread roll that had just hit him in the forehead. All of his friends had now stopped laughing and were glaring at Teddy. Scorpius and Teddy were staring at each other furiously and Scorpius smiled nastily

"Well, well, well if it isn't my cousin Teddy. Still hanging around with the wrong crowd just like your mongrel father." Scorpius spat viciously at Teddy. It was a low blow to Teddy but he didn't care. No one threw something at him and got away with it.

Teddy didn't flinch at the insults. This wasn't the first confrontation with Scorpius and Teddy was used to the blunt insults and comments. They didn't mean a thing coming out of the mouth of someone like Scorpius.

"I don't know Scorpi, why don't you tell me? You seem to have plenty of experience with the wrong crowd." Teddy glanced quickly at the boys sitting with Scorpius and they all started to get up. Scorpius narrowed his eyes at Teddy and signaled for his friends to remain sitting. He could handle this himself.

"Good one. Tell me how are the family? Are your grandparents well? I doubt even knowing seeing as you spent most of your time at the Potter household. Your loyalty to family is astounding." Scorpius could see Victoria Weasley take a step toward Teddy protectively. Teddy once again ignored the comment. He knew Scorpius was just aiming low blows to throw him off and make him back down. Teddy didn't care and looked at Victoria assuring her that he could handle this. James had now noticed the conversation going on at the top of the room and walked toward them. Teddy stepped in front of Gail.

"At least I have loyalty, especially to my friends. Now are you going to apologize to Gail or will I have to force you to?" Scorpius laughed at the threat but he still took a step back. He knew Teddy was much stronger than him and older. He had experienced this during their last fight when Teddy had given him a black eye. Teddy knew Scorpius was scared and stood his ground. James had now come to stand beside Teddy.

"I would love to see you try." Scorpius said through gritted teeth. He was trying to look tough in front of his friends but he was terrified about what Teddy would do to him.

Gail realized what was going on and got up. She stood in front of Teddy trying to block his view of the white haired boy who was evidently called Scorpius but he was taller than her and he could still see over her head. Teddy looked down at her.

"Teddy, don't worry about it. I'm fine. He doesn't have to apologize to me. The bread rolls don't even hurt." She looked at him pleadingly wanting him to just let it go. The tension in the room was building and she could see everyone was uncomfortable. Teddy said through gritted teeth still staring at Scorpius:

"No. He has to apologize." Gail was panicking at his expression and she looked at Victoria. Victoria also wanted the confrontation to be over as things were getting way too serious. She whispered something to Teddy and tried to pull him back. Scorpius had now sat down and was talking to his friends and laughing. He knew ignoring the raging Teddy would just make him angrier. He was right. Victoria and James had to pull Teddy form the room before he could take out his wand and doing something he would regret. Teddy glared at Scorpius as he left the room. Gail didn't know what to do so she followed Rosie out of the room behind the raging Teddy. As they left the room Teddy saw Scorpius get up one last time and throw a bread roll hitting Gail in the back of the head. Scorpius knew that she was going to be an easy target from now on. Gail once again ignored the blow but Teddy got even angrier. He was lucky Victoria and James were restraining him as he knew he would have taken out his wand and probably done something stupid enough to get expelled otherwise. After Teddy had cooled down for a few minutes in the hallway he turned to Gail.

"Why didn't you stand up for yourself and then when I tried to you stopped me. Why? I don't get it. How can you just let Scorpius bully you?" he was looking at her angrily and Gail took a step away from his fierce expression. Victoria seeing that Gail was uncomfortable and Teddy was just taking his anger about Scorpius out on her, pulled his arm backwards. He shrugged her off and walked frustrated down the hall. Victoria gave Gail an apologetic look before she ran after Teddy. James also followed after her.

Gail looked upset as she stared after Teddy. His comments reminded her of conversations she had had with Kevin her former brother when he told her she needed to grow up and stand up for herself because of Conor and the others picking on her. The memories came flooding back to her and she cringed at the memory. Rosie saw that Gail was upset but she couldn't tell why. She thought maybe it was just Teddy's harsh tone that had upset her. Rosie heard a bang come from the direction that Teddy and Victoria gone. She turned to Gail and said:

"Don't worry Gail. Teddy is just angry with Scorpius. He didn't mean what he said to you." Rosie heard another bang and ran off giving Gail a sympathetic look.

Gail stood in the hall by herself. She knew that Teddy and the others didn't want to talk to her right now. She had only been trying to ease the tension between Teddy and Scorpius but she realized she had made a mistake. She always made things worse and now one of her only friends was angry at her. Gail picked up her books and was walking to class when she felt something knock against her shoulder and she was pushed sideways. She fell to the floor dropping her books which scattered along the floor. She looked up and saw Scorpius was standing over her. Gail felt herself begin to shake and she got up slowly, then she took a step away from Scorpius. She was now backed against a wall and she saw Scorpius and his friends move in cornering her.

"So tell me, Gail is it? Where in the world did you come from? I would definitely have remembered you. Now why didn't you let your little friend Teddy, try to make me apologize. I would have thought a little thing like you would let someone like big strong Teddy protect her. I guess you would rather be all alone." Scorpius smiled at the terrified face of Gail.

Gail tried to step away from the group of boys but Scorpius grabbed her arm and shoved her violently against the wall. Gail felt the pillar behind her pressing into her back painfully. She wanted to move away but Scorpius was holding her in place. His face was only a few inched away from hers and she looked down at her feet not wanting to look into his eyes. Scorpius' grip tightened on her arm and he hissed into her face.

"Big mistake." Scorpius took a step backward and Gail felt better as there was more space between them now. Suddenly he pushed her sideways and she hit the ground hard. As she fell her head smashed against a corner of a wooden bench in the hallway. Gail lay on the ground feeling dizzy and then raised her hand to her head. When she looked at her hand there was a small trickle of blood running down her palm. She could also feel the warm sensation of blood running down her head. Scorpius and his friends looked down at Gail lying, bleeding on the floor. They hadn't meant it to go that far. They heard footsteps coming toward them and they scattered.

James Potter now turned the corner to see Gail lying on the floor. He had just finished helping Victoria calm Teddy down and he was looking for Gail because Teddy wanted to apologize to her about his behavior in the hall. James walked over to Gail wondering why she wasn't getting up. As he got closer he noticed she wasn't moving. James began to get more worried and bent down next to Gail. He shook her shoulder but she didn't respond. James could only see the back of her head and he rolled her over so he could see her face. It was now he saw the blood running from the small gash at the top of Gail's head. He looked around and saw that Gail's books were scattered along the floor. He would have assumed that she had just tripped if it wasn't for the dirty footprints stamped onto her books like people had ran over them.

James gently picked the unconscious Gail up and started walking her to the infirmary. She was much lighter that he thought she would have been. She was much thinner than her uniform made her look. It must have been at least three sizes too big. He wondered why the uniform was so big and who had bought it for her? They obviously hadn't guessed her size very well. When he got to the infirmary the nurse immediately told him to put Gail on one of the empty beds and leave. The entire room was empty and James put Gail down the bed closest to him. She looked very pale and there was a dark patch in her hair from where she was bleeding. James was worried about her although he didn't know her that well. She was after all his potions partner. James also noticed a long deep burn on Gail's hand and he wondered how she had gotten that. The nurse appeared again ushering him from the room. He left reluctantly and walked to class.

At lunch everyone asked where Gail was and he told them what had happened. They all looked worriedly at him after hearing the story they ate in silence for a few minutes thinking. They all looked up as Scorpius walked into the room. As he walked past them he said smugly:

"So where's Gail?" James and Teddy stood up furiously and Scorpius retreated without another word. James and Teddy both knew that what had happened to Gail had something to do with Scorpius. James glared after Scorpius and sat thinking about what had happened all through lunch.

The moment classes were finished James went straight to the infirmary. He was carrying a box of sweets that his mother had packed for him. When he got to the infirmary the nurse didn't tell him to leave as it was visiting hours and she was glad the girl Gail had at least one friend. James put the sweets on the table beside Gail and sat down as she was asleep. Suddenly Gail woke up and turned slowly to look at the person who had woken her. James was sitting in the chair next to her bed. She smiled at him groggily as the nurse had given her painkillers that made her sleepy after bandaging up her head.

James could see a patch of white bandages at the side of Gail's head and she looked at him, her eyed only half open. She didn't look as pale as earlier but she looked much thinner. This was probably because she was now wearing pajamas which fitted her much better than her baggy uniform. She smiled warmly at James sitting beside her and he said

"How are you feeling?" Gail tried to sit up but her head felt like it was made of lead. She answered the question trying to make her voice sound awake.

"I'm fine. How's Teddy, is he still angry at me?" Gail asked the question worriedly and James wondered how she could possibly be thinking about Teddy. He wasn't the one lying in a hospital bed with a gash in his head. He answered her calmly not wanting to upset the small pale girl lying in the hospital bed.

"He was never angry at you, he didn't mean what he said earlier. Actually he's worried about you. I told him what happened between you and Scorpius." Gail was relieved that Teddy wasn't mad at her but she didn't know how James knew what had happened with Scorpius. She couldn't recall him being there when he had cornered her. James definitely wasn't there when it happened. She was sure of it. He must be just trying to get her to tell him what happened. She knew a lot about bullies and she knew telling on them would only inspire revenge which was worse than the original bullying. Gail looked down at her hands and said quietly:

"I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing happened between me and Scorpius. I tripped and hit my head earlier. It was no one's fault but my own." James couldn't believe that Gail was going to let Scorpius off. He had no evidence that Scorpius had done this to Gail and unless she said it he had no proof. He looked bewildered and said:

"But I saw your books on the floor. They had been trampled. No one would just walk past you and ignore you. I know he did it you have to tell…." James was getting frustrated thinking that Scorpius would get off scot free but Gail looked up at him pleadingly:

"I'm fine James. I tripped that's all. Nothing happened with Scorpius. Please just let it go." Gail was practically begging James now. He looked down at her pleading eyes and nodded his head. If she didn't want to tell anyone what really happened he couldn't force her. Even if he went to Professor Mc Gonagall himself he had no proof. James wondered why Gail was protecting Scorpius and he got really angry thinking about the smug expression on Scorpius' face in the Great Hall.

Gail smiled again at James trying to give him a silent thank you as the nurse had walked over. James watched as the nurse tapped her wand against Gail's hand and the burn was coated with a yellow substance. Gail let out a small noise and her face tensed from the pain in her hand. James watched Gail's reaction and felt bad. The nurse now put a clear liquid into the drip connected to Gail's arm and Gail's eyes instantly began to shut. Her eyes rolled back into her head and fell heavily back into her pillows.

James watched Gail be pulled into a deep sleep by the drugs. He saw her struggle trying to keep her eyes open but she couldn't resist. James felt like ripping the needle from her arm but he knew she would be in a lot of pain without the medicine. The nurse now asked James to leave the room. He got up reluctantly and walked to the door. As he left he saw the nurse start to change the bandage on Gail's head. James left the room quickly. He didn't want to see the bloody gash in Gail's head that he remembered from earlier.

James walked to the common room. When he got inside Rosie asked how Gail was. She could see James was upset and Victoria and Teddy also walked over noticing James' expression. James sat down and said to himself more than the others:

"I asked her what happened and she didn't rat out Scorpius. I know he did it. You should have seen her expression when I mentioned him." James was visibly upset and Teddy felt his temper bubble thinking about Scorpius. Victoria and Rosie were shocked about the fact Gail wasn't going to admit Scorpius had hurt her. They looked at each other and then back to James. Rosie asked:

"But Gail is definitely alright?" James looked up at this

"Yes she'll be fine. She has a large cut on her head and she was on a ton of medicine. It made her really sleepy." Rosie noticed James looked even more distressed by this fact.

"At least she not in pain when she's asleep. If she were awake then she would be in agony." James cringed at the word agony. Victoria now spoke:

"I don't understand. Why is Gail protecting Scorpius?" She looked around but no one answered her. James got up and headed toward his room looking deep in thought. Teddy kissed Victoria on the cheek and then followed him. Rosie gave Victoria a troubled look and they too headed to their room to go to sleep. They all fell asleep that night worrying about Gail and furious at Scorpius.

When Gail woke up James was gone. She hoped he would visit her again. She was glad that he had left the topic of how she had gotten hurt alone. She refused to tell on Scorpius. That would only make things worse. Gail was now in the bathroom examining her head. It didn't hurt so much now because of the pain killers but it looked awful. Nurse had assured her that it would get better in a few days. She found this hard to believe as a cut like this would usually have taken weeks to heal but she supposed here in the magical world the magical medicine helped to speed up the process.

Gail moved her arm to lift up her hair and felt a sharp pain come from her upper arm. She didn't know why her arm hurt and she lifted up her sleeve. On her arm four small circular bruises were appearing. They were from when Scorpius had grabbed her. She flinched at the memory of his sharp fingers clutching her arm. Gail quickly pulled back down her sleeve. The bruises would heal themselves naturally. There was no point in worrying everyone over a few small bruises.

Gail fell asleep quickly because of the medication but not even the strong pain killers that were meant to make her sleep could keep away Gail's nightmares. That night another memory was added to Gail's nightmares. This time it was the mean smiling face of Scorpius and the memory of being thrown against the ground. Gail almost gave the nurse a heart attack when suddenly during the night she let out a loud scream in her sleep.


	7. Post

Post

James Potter was sitting patiently in potions class waiting for his partner Gail to walk in. This was her first official day of classes since the incident with Scorpius even though she still wouldn't admit it. He had been trying to get her to confess all week but she always saw right through him. It was a lot harder than he would have thought. Still James had spent every day after school siting in the infirmary trying to cunningly get Gail to rat out Scorpius without even realizing. Rosie, his cousin didn't agree with his plan as she thought it morally wrong to try to trick someone into doing something they didn't want to but Teddy and Victoria were behind his plan and had tried to help. They were having just as much success. It was ironic how Rosie was the probably the only one who was smart enough to get Gail to admit what happened and she was the only one who wouldn't help him.

James looked up to see Gail walk through the door. Rosie smiled at Gail as she walked past her desk to the back of the room to sit beside James. James also smiled at Gail. She looked much better than yesterday. She wasn't as pale and she didn't look as thin but that was probably because she was now wearing the uniform that was three sizes too big for her. Gail put her books on the table and sat down next to James. He was going to tell her she looked a lot better today but Professor Twills walked in and silenced them. They went through the class as normal with Professor Twills babbling on and Gail scribbling furiously.

James never paid much attention on class but he was fascinated by the amount of attention Gail paid. He would have borrowed her notes as he assumed they were very detailed by the amount she wrote but they were practically illegible. Gail was the only one seemed to be able to make out what they said. She had explained one day while they were studying in the library that she had a way of writing short hand so she could write down everything that was said. None of them could make out the scribbles but they all appreciated the amazing detail of the drawings that she put into her notes. Victoria who was the most artistic one of the family couldn't come anywhere near the standard of the drawing as much as she tried.

Class ended while James was still thinking and he snapped out of it as Tobias elbowed him in the back. Gail also looked up now finishing her notes. Tobias didn't like Gail very much as he thought she was a bit weird. Tobias ignored the friendly smile Gail gave him and started talking to James. Gail started reading over her notes and only looked up again when she heard Tobias walk away. James turned to her glaring after Tobias

"Sorry about him. He never really was very…" James paused trying to think of a word to make Tobias seem less rude without insulting him. He went with

"Very friendly towards new people. Any way you look a lot better than yesterday." He turned the topic of the conversation back to Gail. He knew Gail was sensitive about the scar on the back of her head and he thought the compliment might ease her nerves.

"Thanks. I feel a lot better but know now I have even more catching up to do." Gail smiled worriedly at James. She knew he was trying to be nice but her attention went back to the red line at the back of her head. She reached up pretending to scratch her ear but she subtly placed her hair around her head trying to cover the scar. James noticed the movement but didn't say anything. Rosie now walked over to their desk and Gail got up. She and Rosie always walked to divination together. James wasn't it that class and he watched them walk out of the room. He had charms class next and he walked casually to the classroom. James wasn't worried as Professor Stacks was always late.

When James got into the room he walked to one of the desks by the window where Tobias was sitting. James hit Tobias in the back of the head with his charms book. Tobias looked up from the offensive drawing of Professor Stacks that he was doodling onto the cover of his book. The drawing would have been offensive if Professor Stacks hadn't actually had a huge stomach, a huge ridiculously shaped moustache and was bald. The drawing was actually quite accurate. Tobias looked up looking annoyed but laughed when he saw James. Tobias picked up the book he had been drawing on and took a swing at James. James skillfully dodged the book and ripped it out of Tobias's hand. James hit Tobias on the head again and sat down irritated. Tobias rubbed his head

"Dude, what was that for?" Tobias went back to the drawing of Professor Stacks. James looked angrily at his friend

"You know what that was about." James was staring at Tobias. Tobias couldn't hold back a small smile. He loved messing with James. He said cheekily trying to hold back laughter

"Oh, right because I wasn't the best of buddies with the new girl." He couldn't hold back and he let out a small chuckle. James swung at him again but Tobias dodged it playfully expecting this reaction. James looked at his friends smug expression and sighed frustrated

"Tobias…" He said in a warning tone. He hated when Tobias messed with him. It was probably his own fault because he gave Tobias the exact reaction that he was looking for but he always let Tobias get to him. Tobias looked at James and rolled his eyes. He knew he had gone too far and backtracked before James took another swing at him again.

"Ok, ok. Today at lunch I will try to be nice. Sound good?" Tobias went back to his drawing and James smiled to himself. He very rarely got Tobias to do something or won an argument against him. He was glad that Tobias would at least try and make an effort with Gail even though he would probably make things worse. Tobias had an awful habit of making a compliment sound like insult especially since compliments were so rare with him. James was relieved though that he would try with Gail considering she had so few friends and he didn't want his friends to make her uncomfortable. Especially since Tobias had already been so rude to her. Lunch would definitely make things a lot better.

James looked up to see Professor Stacks walk in. Tobias didn't notice as the Professor walked swiftly down the room to where he and James were sitting and Professor Stacks yanked the book that Tobias had been drawing on out of his hands. He looked at the drawing his face getting redder and redder and finally going purple. Tobias looked up at him smiling cheekily. James kept a straight face trying not to laugh. He knew that Tobias's expression was only going to make things worse and if he laughed he would get in trouble too. James couldn't hold back the laughter as Professor Stacks moustache began to tremble with anger. Tobias also started laughing hysterically at the image. Professor Stacks yelled at both of them and dragged them to the front of the room still laughing. It was going to be a long class.

Gail didn't really like divination as she couldn't really take any notes and everyone else had way more practice at it. At least Rosie sat next to her so she could help her. Gail was relieved when the class was finished and she and Rosie started walking to the Great Hall. Gail was starving and whatever had been cooking in the kitchen all day smelled amazing. When they walked in Teddy and Victoria were already there. Tobias and James were sitting with them but they were having two completely separate conversations. Teddy and Victoria didn't like Tobias and neither did Rosie. Rosie sat down next to Teddy which was the spot as far away Tobias as possible and Gail sat across from her next to James. Gail saw Albus walk into the hall followed by Lily and Hugo who ran over to sit with them.

They all began to eat and James elbowed Tobias in the ribs suddenly causing him to choke and spray food across the table at Victoria who did not look impressed. Teddy patted her hand also glaring at Tobias but he was James's friend so they would all at least be civil no matter what annoying thing Tobias did. Tobias glared at James ignoring Victoria. James pretended nothing had happened and gave a silent nod toward Gail. Tobias looked at Gail

"Hey, so you're Gail. That's a nasty looking scar on the side of your head, you must be pretty tough to take something like that and walk away without amnesia." This was probably the biggest compliment Tobias had ever given and he couldn't understand why everyone at the table looked like they wanted to kill him. Victoria gave Tobias a vicious kick from under the table. She had been dying to that for half an hour and as bad as she felt for Gail she was glad that Tobias had given her the perfect opportunity. Tobias glared at Victoria and then back at James. Gail spoke now sensing the tension building toward Tobias

"Yes, I'm Gail. Actually I fell the other day. I'm just clumsy but its fine." Gail gave a reassuring smile both to Tobias to tell him that it was fine and to the others so they would stop glaring at him. Gail went back to eating and the others looked a little more relaxed by her reaction. Tobias was confused by what had just happened but he figured that Victoria was willing to attack him no matter what he said. He was going to tell Victoria a blonde joke but he knew Teddy wasn't his biggest fan and he didn't want to start a fight. They had almost gone a whole meal without Teddy taking a swing at him and why not make this the new record.

Everyone looked up as a white owl flew through one of the open windows. It let out a long hoot and then dropped the brown rectangular box it was carrying. A boy with light brown hair sitting at the Hufflepuff table caught the parcel and started opening it. The owl flew out of the window at the end of the hall and more owls started to fly into the hall through the windows. Mail was here.

Every week the owls arrived to deliver the mail. Gail never got any mail considering that she had no one to send her any but she loved seeing how peoples face lit up when they received letters and gifts from their families. James and the others always got letters from their parents. Teddy's parents were dead but James's father Harry who was Teddy's godfather always sent Teddy a letter. A small brown owl spiraled through the air toward them and landed with a thud on the table. The owl had dropped the letters it had been carrying and Rosie got up. She picked them up and handed them out. Everyone read the letters in silence and then passed them around so they could read each other's. Gail could tell they all missed their families. She felt her stomach turn with sadness at the memory of her former family.

Tobias reached up and caught a long white box that a large black owl had been carrying. His dad had sent him a replacement wand because his had broken last week. As far as his dad was considered the wand broke when a spell backfired during class. It definitely didn't happen while Tobias was scaling a wall and fell trying to sneak back into his dorm room without Professor Stacks noticing and more than likely expelling him. The wand was nice and he liked the feel of it. He noticed Gail was staring at the wand fascinated but he ignored her expression. She was probably just upset, obviously her parents couldn't be bothered to send her anything.

When a large light brown owl flew into the room and dropped a huge brown box next to Gail no one seemed to notice. Gail saw the parcel land next to her but ignored it thinking it had to be for someone else. The others had now put away their letters knowing that Gail wouldn't be getting anything. They would all look over the letters in private later. Victoria noticed the parcel next to Gail first. Now everyone was staring at the box. Tobias was the only one that didn't know that Gail didn't have anyone to send her anything so he said

"Well, aren't you going to open it?" He was confused why Gail wasn't opening the parcel but everyone else was confused about who the parcel was for. Gail looked at the parcel next to her and then back at Tobais looking confused. She noticed the others were all staring at the parcel too.

"But it's not for me." Rosie got up and picked up the piece of white cardboard attached to the box and read it aloud. All it said was the word Abigail in printed writing.

"It has your name on it Gail." Gail's forehead creased with confusion and she got up to look at the piece of card with her name on it. Gail took a step back looking at the box and said slightly panicky

"But I have no one to send me anything." Teddy and the others now got up to get a closer look at the mysterious box. Gail made no move to open it and was looking deep in thought. She was completely confused about where this box had come from and what was inside. Everyone jumped when the box moved. A small whimpering like noise came from inside the box and Gail's eyes widened. Gail took a step forward reaching to open the box but James grabbed her arm suddenly. Teddy said looking at James

"She has to open it James." James turned on him and practically shouted

"What do you mean she has to open it? She doesn't know anyone that would send her something and suddenly this parcel arrives moving and making strange noises. We have no idea what could be in there what if it's something…." Suddenly the box let out another noise but this one sounded more like a bark. Gail pulled her arm out of James's grip and gently the lid of the box. James pulled her back again and everyone stepped back wondering what would pop out of the box.

There was another small bark and suddenly a small reddish brown hairy face popped out of the box. The puppy barked it the direction of Gail and then tried to jump out of the box. The box tipped over and the puppy fell out tripping over the blue blanket inside and stumbling onto the table. It lay down on the table lying on its back and looked at them. Gail stepped forward and patted the small dog. It turned over and she picked it up. The puppy licked her face and Gail held it at arm's length looking at small mound of reddish brown fur. Lily pushed past James and started rubbing the puppy and said innocently

"What are you going to call him?" she smiled up at Gail and Gail smiled back at Lily. Victoria and the others now moved closer to examine the dog. James and Teddy ignored the small dog in Gail's arms and they examined the box thoroughly. There was nothing inside that indicated who had sent the dog. James now looked to Gail who was holding the dog smiling. Lily was standing next to her listing off possible names while Rosie and Victoria laughed at Lilies crazy ideas. Gail sat down still holding the dog and Lily sat beside her feeding the dog pieces of food she had taken from the table. The puppy was obviously starving and they didn't know how long it had been in the box. Tobias emptied a bowl and filled it with water from a pitcher on the table. He put it on the floor at Gail's feet and she put the dog on the floor. The puppy licked up the water quickly and then stood obediently at Gail's feet until she picked him up again. James sat down next to Gail and the dog looked at him and then licked his hand. James patted the dog's head and said to Gail

"I wonder who sent him to you." Gail looked back at him still smiling. James had never seen her smile like that before. Even when she laughed her eyes still looked like they were full of sadness but not this time. He noticed her eyes lit up when she smiled.

"I don't know. He's great though isn't he? I've always loved red setters." The dog looked up like it had heard them taking about it and barked. Gail got up and James followed. She had just seen the time and she was late for her lesson with Professor Mc Gonagall. She knew she had better show the dog to her professor. She would definitely want to see this.

"I have to go. I have to show this to Professor Mc Gonagall." James picked up the box the dog had come in and handed it to Gail. She put the dog inside and carried him out of the room. When they had left James stared at the owl that had delivered the dog and tried to remember if he had ever seen it before. He felt like he had but most owls looked alike so he couldn't be sure. He turned to Tobias giving him a thanking look in reference to what he had done. It was probably the nicest thing Tobias had ever done but he shrugged at James response and walked casually out of the room. James now turned to Teddy

"That was weird. Who do you think sent the dog? I mean how would someone know that Gail likes red setters. Do you recognize that owl Teddy?" James was staring at the owl again and Teddy answered

"Definitely. I have no idea about that owl it does look a little familiar but still Gail seemed happy with the dog." He was also confused about who would have sent the dog but didn't want to worry James further. Professor Mc Gonagall would know what was going on.

Professor Mc Gonagll was as confused as the others had been about the origins of the dog but Gail had never seemed so happy and student were allowed to have a pet even though a dog wasn't very traditional so she decided to let Gail keep it. Minerva sent Gail away early from the lesson so she could take care of the dog. They had been making amazing progress in the extra classes lately and Minerva was growing confident in Gail's abilities. She was curious though about where the dog had come from. She would definitely look into this.

Gail walked back to her room carrying the box with the puppy inside. She was surprised Professor Mc Gonagall hadn't known where the dog had come from. Gail thought for a moment that maybe Professor Mc Gonagall had got the dog for her as a gift. It was the only reasonable explanation she could come up with for where the dog had come from. She thought maybe Professor Mc Gonagall had been talking to Ms. Bellam as someone who lived on their street had a red setter years ago and Gail had once told Ms. Bellam how much she loved that breed of dog. Apparently Professor Mc Gonagall had no idea where the dog had come from so Gail was baffled by who had sent her the dog.

When Gail got to her room there was no one else there. The white and orange cat wasn't there but the window was open so Gail assumed it had gone outside. She put the box on the floor and the dog jumped out. It seemed to be able to get out of the box much easier than earlier at much lunch, almost like it had gotten taller. Gail assumed that the puppy was probably just stronger after eating and had been weak earlier and that was why it seemed smaller earlier.

The dog reached back into the box and pulled out the blue blanket inside. The box tipped over and a small brown envelope fell out of it. The puppy ignored the envelope and jumped onto Gail's bed lying down wrapping itself in the blanket. Gail smiled at the little rust colored dog wrapped up in the light blue blanket lying on her bed. The puppy was already practically fast asleep. Gail sat down gently on the bed trying not to disturb the dog.

The envelope was heavier than it looked and it felt like it had something more than a letter inside. Gail ripped open the letter and a brown leather collar feel out onto her lap. Gail looked into the envelope to see if there was card but it was empty. Gail put the envelope onto the bedside table and picked up the collar to examine it. The collar was made of soft light brown leather and had a gold buckle with holes in it so you could adjust the size. There was a small rectangular piece of gold colored metal on the side of the collar which you could engrave the name of a dog on. It was blank and Gail looked back at the sleeping dog thinking about names.

Gail looked back at the collar and nearly dropped it onto the floor with shock when suddenly letters began to appear on the piece of metal on the side of the collar. The letters were etching themselves into the metal as if by magic. The letters spelt out the word 'Rusty' and Gail looked back at the dog.

"Well I guess your name is Rusty." Gail said quietly to herself and she gently put the collar around the dog's neck. The puppy stirred slightly in its sleep and then dozed off again. Gail lay down on the bed next to the small bundle of fur wrapped in soft wool and fell asleep. It was the first night in a long time that Gail didn't cry in her sleep or have any nightmares. lunch k in. t


	8. Flight

Flight

After a few weeks Rusty had grown up to Gail's knee height. He was an extremely obedient dog and seemed to be perfectly trained without any major effort from Gail. Rusty followed Gail around the school and sat outside her classes waiting for them to finish. The professors fought against the dog sitting outside the classroom at first but even when Gail locked it into her room it seemed to get out somehow. Gail was mystified about how Rusty got out constantly. She had even pushed her trunk against the door one day but he still got out. The strangest thing was that when Gail went to the room later the trunk was still firmly pressed against the door. She couldn't understand how Rusty got out and then got the trunk back into that position.

The other girls in Gail's room weren't so thrilled about sharing with Gail and Rusty. The first girl to leave was the one owning the white and orange cat always stared at Gail. Shannon claimed she was allergic to dogs even though Gail had never seen her have any sort of reaction to Rusty. Shannon also claimed the dog unnerved Henry which was her cat. Although Rusty had never done anything to Henry or even gone near the cat Shannon still moved to another room. In truth Shannon was freaked out by the crying and talking that Gail did in her sleep and Rusty was the perfect excuse for her to leave. Shannon moved to one floor down and a few rooms over which was the room her sister was staying in.

A few days after Shannon left, one of the others girl followed her example. Her excuse was that her cousin didn't have many friends and she was going to stay in her room to try and help. The third girl didn't even bother giving an excuse and left, soon after followed by the fourth. The fifth girl didn't mind Gail that much but when she was the only one left in the room she packed her things and moved too. The girls slept in sleeping bags for a while but after letters from parents the five now empty beds in Gail's room were moved to the other girl's new rooms. Gail had the whole room in the tower all to herself now.

Gail sat in her room alone looking at the discolored spots where the other beds had once stood. There was now a wardrobe and a chest of drawers pushed against the walls. Professor Mc Gonagall had asked Mr. Ripes to put the furniture into Gail's room so it wouldn't look so empty. Gail had also found a basket which she had fashioned into a bed for Rusty. The basket was placed underneath the window. It had originally been next the wardrobe but Rusty kept dragging his blue blanket underneath the window and sleeping there so eventually Gail moved the entire basket to the spot.

There weren't any classes that day and Gail was walking Rusty. James and Teddy had quidditch practice today but James usually came with her. She didn't really understand the game but it was very important to James and Teddy. James's father Harry had played quidditch when he went to school at Hogwarts and James now played in the same position as his father used to. James was the seeker for the team which meant he had to fly around the quidditch field looking for a small golden ball called a snitch. The snitch was a very small and it was practically invisible when it was flying. Even though Gail had never seen an actual game she had seen pictures and it looked interesting. James was apparently a very good seeker according to Teddy and Rosie and Gail was looking forward to the game next week when she would actually get to see James and Teddy play.

Quidditch was played on broomsticks and Gail didn't know how to fly. James had offered to teach her and later she was meeting him and Teddy after quidditch practice so they could teach her. She was nervous about the lesson as she had never flown before but Rosie had assured her it wasn't that difficult. Gail didn't have a broom and she would be learning on one of the spares that the Gryffindor team used. Gail's stomach filled with butterflies at the thought of the lesson and she patted Rustys head trying to calm her nerves.

Rusty looked up at Gail with his big brown eyes and she looked down at him and smiled. He always made her feel better somehow. Gail turned around and started walking back in the direction of the quidditch field. Rusty followed walking beside her. Gail never used a lead on Rusty as he never made any attempt to run off or stray from her side. He was a very obedient dog and he licked her hand as they were walking trying to be comforting as he could sense her tension. She patted his head again acknowledging that he was trying to comfort her and she smiled down at him.

Gail was now on the edge of the quidditch filed and she could see James and Teddy flying through the air passing a ball to each other. She could Rosie was sitting in the stands with Victoria and Gail. Gail hoped they would be leaving soon, as she didn't want them to see her learning to fly. It would be bad enough if James and Teddy saw her fall but it would be even worse if Victoria and Rosie saw too. This was the moment James saw Gail standing at the side of the field and he landed gracefully on the ground and walked towards her. Teddy also landed and put the quaffle back into its box next to the two bludgers. The golden snitch was still flying around somewhere but James would have to find that later.

"Hey ready for your very first flying lesson." James said to Gail and patted Rusty on the head. James knew how nervous Gail was about the lesson and he would wait to start until everyone had left the field. Teddy walked over to them carrying the broom that Gail would be using. He propped the broom up against the wall next to where James had put his broom. Teddy knew that James was waiting for everyone to leave the pitch because Gail was so nervous.

Rosie and Victoria were now standing with James and Gail. Rusty was sitting at Gail's feet and Rosie was patting his head. The last person who was left on the field apart from the small group landed and walked off waving to James as she left. James waved back politely and then handed one of the brooms propped against the wall to Gail. She took it tentatively holding it away from her. James chuckled at her expression. She looked like she thought it would suddenly take off dragging her into the air with it. Teddy also couldn't hold back a small chuckle but Victoria elbowed him sharply cutting him off. James picked up his broom getting ready to start the lesson but he was cut off by someone zooming past his head. He looked up to see someone in the Slytherin colors flying overhead. Scorpius landed on the ground a few feet away from James and the others and began walking towards them.

James and Teddy tensed defensively as Scorpius approached. Gail looked down at her feet and took a small step backwards still holding the broom. Scorpius was glaring at Gail and she could feel his gaze burning into the side of her head. James stepped in front of Gail breaking Scorpius' gaze. James could barely resist the temptation to punch Scorpius but he knew that if he did that without any real reason he would only get in trouble and Scorpius would get off scot free. Plus it would only make things worse for Gail. James could feel how scared she was of Scorpius and he suspected that the cut on her head wasn't the only thing Scorpius had done to hurt her. Scorpius took a step backwards so he could see Gail and because he knew that James was a lot stronger than him and would destroy him in a fight.

The rest of the Slytherin quidditch team now walked onto the field and joined Scorpius. Scorpius was one of chasers for the Slytherin team and Teddy was a chaser for the Gryffindor team. The Slytherin team were now all glaring at the two members of opposite team. Scorpius smiled smugly at James

"You're on our field." James sighed at Scorpius' arrogant tone.

"Actually you're on our field. We've had the field reserved for the past week and we still have over an hour left but your welcome to it then." James said still glaring. This was the point that Scorpius noticed that Gail was holding a broom. He chuckled

"Oh, I see you going to try and teach the freak how to fly." The rest of the Slytherin team laughed at the comment and Teddy took a step toward Scorpius. James put his arm out holding him back. Usually James would have taken a swing at Scorpius for this comment or at least let Teddy but they were outnumbered this time and there was no way they would win against the whole of the Slytherin team. Gail had cringed away from the comment and she could feel that Teddy and James were barely holding onto their tempers.

"You can have the field when we are done." James said through gritted teeth. Scorpius now looked at Gail again. She was visibly uncomfortable and he knew exactly how he was going to get the field.

"Fine. You don't mind of we sit in the stands and wait till you're finished though do you." James knew that Scorpius had won. He sighed and stepped back talking the broom from Gail. She let go without any resistance because she was terrified at the thought of Scorpius watching her learn to fly. James propped the broom against the wall and they walked off the field. They could hear the Slytherin team laughing and shouting things after them as they left. As they walked away Rusty lifted his leg and went all over the Slytherin's team broomsticks. They didn't notice until they were zooming through the air with their brooms dripping underneath them. James and the others laughed hysterically at the disgusted expressions on the teams faces and Teddy patted Rusty's head in congratulations. He would definitely sneak some steak to the dog the next them they had it at dinner.

"Don't worry we can teach you to fly next week." James said to Gail but she walked off without answering still thinking about Scorpius's comment and the Slytherin team's laughter. She felt her eyes beginning to fill with tears. She didn't want James and the others to see her cry and they left her go with Rusty following behind her. Gail walked toward Hagrid's who was the school's groundskeeper. She sometimes took Hagrid's dog Fang for a walk with Rusty and Hagrid had become a very good friend of hers over the few days before the other students arrived.

Hagrid was huge and he towered over her but he was more of a friendly giant than scary. He was also the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures at the school and Gail was taking his class. She thought he was a very good teacher and Care of Magical Creatures was her favorite subject. Gail got to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. Hagrid opened the door and smiled down at Gail. She was a good student although she had only been learning magic for a few weeks and she was one of his favorite students because of her huge interest in magical creatures. She walked in and sat down at the table. Hagrid placed a huge mug of tea in front of her and she sipped at it quietly. They sat there for a while talking and as Gail finished her enormous cup of tea Hagrid noticed how dark it was getting.

"Well Gail. It's getting dark so you had better be getting back to school. Don't want you to be getting into trouble now." He got up scraping the chair against the floor and walked Gail to the door. Rusty got up too and stood next to her

"Thanks for the tea Hagrid." She smiled up at him and he opened the door patting Rusty on the head.

"No problem dear. I'll see you tomorrow. I have a really good lesson planned I think you're really going to enjoy it." Gail walked to the school looking forward to the class tomorrow and turned at the top of the path to wave back at Hagrid. She could see his silhouette through the window of his hut wave back and she carried on back to the school.

The next day James, Rosie and Gail all walked to Care of Magical Creatures together. James and Rosie's parents knew Hagrid well and they were close to Hagrid. The three of them walked down to the clearing where the class was usually held. The clearing was at the edge of a forest and was an open circular area surrounded by trees which covered the area like a canopy. The trees leaves were beginning to fall and the ground was covered in crunchy multicolored leaves. Gail liked the noise the leaves made under her feet as they walked. She could hear the rest of the class coming toward them and they stood waiting for Hagrid to appear. Gail had been waiting anxiously for the class all night and she kept wondering what Hagrid would be teaching them.

Gail was glancing over her notebook and looked up when she heard Hagrid walk through the trees. He didn't have anything with him and Gail couldn't see anything following him through the trees behind him. She was a little disappointed but she got excited again when she saw the huge smile on Hagrid's face. Gail looked at James and Rosie and they also looked slightly excited by Hagrid's expression. Hagrid silenced the class by placing a finger in front of his lips and then he turned to look into the trees. All the students did the same.

Nothing happened for a few minutes and people started shifting impatiently but Gail remained completely still staring at the same point as Hagrid. Suddenly the leaves on the opposite side of the clearing to Gail began to shake. Hagrid now turned again and silenced the class. Everyone watched in awe as the bird like creature emerged from the trees. The creature had a head like a bird and huge wings folded at its side. It had four legs that reminded Gail of paws almost like a lion. Its head was covered in reddish brown feathers that came to the base of its neck and then turned into a deep golden fur covering its legs. Gail watched as the creatures huge paws crushed the leaves it stepped on and it stared curiously at the students gazing at it from across the clearing. Now Hagrid turned to class a huge smile spread across his face

"This is a griffin. The griffin is a creature with the head of a bird and the body of a lion. They can fly immense distances and they very rarely come into close contact with large groups of people. I found this one the other day and luckily he stayed so you all have the chance to see him." Hagrid took a step closer to the griffin and it tensed and looked at him warning him not to come any closer. Hagrid abruptly stepped back and instead walked toward the students. Rosie now raised her hand and James rolled his eyes. She was such a know it all and of course was the first one to ask a question.

"Professor, the hippogriff also has the head of a bird but the body of a horse instead of a lion. It had been known that hippogriffs allow people to ride on their backs. Has a griffin ever allowed anyone to ride on their back?" James oddly wanted to know the answer to this question and he was almost glad Rosie asked it. Hagrid had expected this question and turned to Rosie

"It has been said that griffins have allowed people to ride them but this hasn't happened in many years. There have been many rumors over the years but the last documented case was with Godrich Gryffindor." All the Gryffindors looked up at this and took a hesitant step forward. The griffin reared its head defensively and let out a long warning snort. Hagrid gestured for them to move back and the students reluctantly stepped back.

Gail had been staring at the griffin practically without blinking since it had walked through the trees. She stood completely still ignoring the questions that the other students were firing at Hagrid. The griffin now lifted its head and looked directly at Gail. It tipped its head slightly to the side and took a step forward suddenly. Hagrid instantly moved in front of the students but the griffin didn't back away. Hagrid pushed the students back but Gail remained rooted to the spot. The griffin took another step forward toward Gail and Hagrid also moved in her direction. Hagrid reached towards Gail's arm but she took a step forward toward the griffin avoiding Hagrid's attempt to pull her back.

Gail didn't see that Hagrid was trying to pull her back and she didn't realize there was any danger. James now realized that Gail was in danger and he stepped forward trying to pull her back but Hagrid was blocking his path. The griffin was getting closer and closer to Gail and Hagrid was afraid to move in case the griffin panicked and hurt Gail. Suddenly the griffin stretched out its wings and lowered its head like it was bowing. The griffins wings were so long outstretched they practically touched both sides of the clearing. Hagrid had never heard of a griffin do anything like this and he didn't know how to tell Gail to respond. Without any instruction from him Gail mirrored the motions of the griffin and it raised its head to look at her again.

Gail and the griffin each took a step forward and Gail reached out her hand toward the griffin. Everyone instantly sucked in a deep breath hoping that the griffin wouldn't hurt her. James looked over at Rosie who was also looking panicky at Gail and the griffin. No one moved in case they startled the griffin and it hurt Gail but James had the overwhelming urge to run over and pull Gail away. Everyone exhaled deeply when the griffin let Gail touch its neck. The griffin made no move backwards and it slowly refolded its wings against its sides.

Hagrid took a hesitant step forward seeing that the griffin liked Gail but the griffin looked up at the noise and let out a loud defensive noise in his direction. The griffin then opened its beak and picked Gail up by the back of her robes. James and Rosie withdrew their wands and Hagrid pulled out an umbrella. They all pointed at the griffin holding Gail in the air and pointed ready to shoot if it made any attempt to hurt her. Instead the griffin turned its head and placed Gail gently onto its back. Everyone's jaws dropped remembering Rosie's question earlier and no one moved.

Gail was sitting on the back of the griffin. Its feathers were soft and its fur was warm and thick beneath her. It felt like she was sitting on a horse wrapped in a huge thick furry blanket. The griffin's wings were folded up on either side of her legs and she could see Hagrid, James, Rosie and the other students standing a few feet away from her. She could feel the griffin tense beneath her as Hagrid withdrew an umbrella and James and Rosie withdrew their wands. Hagrid took a step forward and Gail was confused about why he looked so worried. James and Rosie had the same expressions on their face and Gail now realized that there was something wrong. Gail dug her fingers into the griffin's neck holding on as she felt it take a step backwards away from the approaching Hagrid.

Hagrid now spoke softly still staring cautiously at the griffin. He had to look up to see the griffin and Gail was a few feet off the ground on the griffins back. Hagrid spoke in a soothing tone trying not to alarm the griffin

"Gail, do you think you can get off?" Gail looked at Hagrid's concerned expression and she twisted around looking at the ground. She was a few feet off the ground but she could probably slide off easily without too much effort or danger of breaking any limbs. Her legs were blocked by the griffin's wings but she could swing them over easily and slide off. She looked up again and said trying to calm Hagrid

"Yes I can get off." She knew this is what Hagrid wanted to hear and his expression instantly eased a little but Gail made no move to get off the griffins back. Hagrid now stepped forward and the griffin spread out its wings slightly but didn't move.

"Gail, I need you to climb off carefully and walk very slowly away from the griffin." Hagrid didn't say the part about not knowing what would happen if the griffin flew off with Gail on its back as he didn't want to alarm Gail or the obviously tense James and Rosie standing with their wands drawn behind him. Gail again made no move and said

"Why? Everything is fine." Gail didn't want to get off. She felt comfortable sitting on the griffins back. She was much more comfortable on the griffin than she had been holding the broom yesterday. Gail was now getting nervous about Hagrid's expression and that he wanted her to get off the griffin so quickly. Hagrid saw her forehead crease with worry and the griffin felt it to and outstretched his wings even further. Gail now realized that Hagrid probably had no idea what would happen if the griffin flew away considering no one had actually ridden one in thousands of years. Gail felt herself start to panic and James and Rosie gave each other an uneasy look. They took a step forward with their wands pointed in front of them and the griffin flapped its wings a few times. The griffin lifted a few centimeters off the ground and hovered in the air.

Gail nearly fell off at the sudden movement into the air and she threw her arms around the griffin's neck holding on tightly. Hagrid now ran forward aiming his umbrella at the griffin as it rose further and further into the air but he was blown backwards by the force of the wind from the griffins flapping wings. James and Rosie ran forward and pointed their wands but Hagrid threw himself in front of them

"No, don't. You could hit Gail." Hagrid, James and Rosie watched helplessly as the griffin flew away with Gail holding on to its back. Gail looked back over her shoulder at the faces of James and Rosie and held onto tighter to the griffins back hoping that it would put her down somewhere close and she could go back soon. She had already lost a family and she didn't want to lose her new friends.

As soon as Gail and the griffin had disappeared from sight there was chaos in the clearing. Hagrid was frantically trying to calm down the other students while James and Rosie stood staring at the spot the griffin and Gail had disappeared into, willing the griffin to bring Gail back. James snapped out of it when Rosie pulled on his arm. He turned and ran up to Hagrid brining his attention away from the panicking students

"Hagrid you have to go and get Professor Mc Gonagall. She needs to do something. Send people out on brooms to find Gail. Hagrid!" Rosie was shouting at Hagrid and everyone quieted looking at her. Rosie never raised her voice. Hagrid was still looking around frantically and he finally turned to the panicked group of students

"Everyone go to your common rooms. Class is dismissed." The students immediately ran off in all directions but Hagrid didn't appear to care. He turned and then ran in the direction of the school. Rosie was about to follow but then she heard James say something form behind her. She turned on him

"What are you doing? Why did you just call your broom? You can't possibly be thinking of going after that griffin. It could turn on you and hurt…" James turned cutting her off.

"Rosie I have too. By the time Professor Mc Gonagall gets here with a bunch of half decent flyers and decides what to do, that griffin could have carried Gail thousands of miles away." James was again looking off into the distance. Rosie was concerned about James's expression and she hoped that Hagrid would be back with Professor Mc Gonagall soon. The broom now whizzed through the air and James caught it and climbed on. Rosie grabbed the end of the broom stopping James from taking off and gave him a pleadingly look. She knew he had a point about Professor Mc Gonagall but it was still way too dangerous for him to go.

"Rosie, I have to go. I'm a seeker remember, if anyone has a chance of finding Gail it's me not some stuffy class prefect. At least let me give it a chance if I can't find her by dark I will come back I promise." James gave her a pleading look and she reluctantly let go. He took off into the air and she watched him go worriedly. She heard him scream something about not telling as he flew away. Rosie heard footsteps coming up behind her.

Gail was holding onto the griffin's neck tightly. She had her eyes closed and she was afraid to look down. Her stomach lurched at every movement the griffin made but for some reason she opened her eyes. The griffin was flying over a huge lake and Gail could see mountains in the distance. She felt tears falling down her face at the thought of Hogwarts and her friends. She felt her stomach sink at the thought of never getting to see them again. The griffin was only a few feet above the water and Gail could see their silhouette in the crystal clear water. She suddenly realized that she was flying and she remembered the images of James and Teddy flying gracefully through the air. She looked at the image in the water and she smiled. Gail realized she loved flying and the air tossed her brown hair backwards. She loved this feeling but she couldn't enjoy it knowing that it might cost her by never getting to see any of her new friends ever again.

James flew through the air going as fast as possible looking around frantically as he flew. He couldn't see Gail anywhere and the sun was starting to go down. He knew he would have to go back soon but he couldn't, knowing that Gail was still out there. It had been hours since he had last seen the griffin and he was getting more and more worried. Suddenly James heard a loud squawk like noise that sounded like the one the griffin had made earlier. He pricked his ears and hoped it would make the sound again. The sound rang out again and James turned flying in the direction of the mountains that the sound had come from.

James landed on the thin ridge a few minutes later. He walked hesitantly down the ridge looking into the caves on either side of him. The last cave was the one that the griffin was in. James couldn't see Gail and he took out his wand pointing it at the griffin. The griffin moved to the side and James suddenly saw Gail lying on the floor of the cave. He stopped waiting for her to move but she lay still. He sent a stun spell at the griffin and it fell to the ground passed out. James ran past it and knelt down next to the still Gail. Her face was wet but she was still breathing. He shook her shoulder gently trying to wake her up but she didn't move. He panicked and started shaking her frantically trying to wake her up.

Gail felt something shaking her shoulder and her first thought was the mountain was a volcano and it was erupting but when she opened her eyes and saw James she nearly fainted with shock. She sat up thinking she might just be imagining him as she had been wishing for someone to come and find her for the last few hours sitting in the cave. James didn't disappear and Gail grabbed him and he helped her up. She was extremely stiff and she nearly fell over her legs were so numb. James caught her before she fell over and he put his arm round her waist dragging her out of the cave. Gail now noticed the griffin

"Is he dead?" She said it in a whisper her voice hoarse from not having anything to drink for hours. He pulled her past the griffin and said quietly making sure not to wake it up

"No. I just stunned it. Don't worry it will be fine." Gail seemed happy about this. James looked at her again and noticed her hair was tangled and her face was dirty from lying on the cave floor

"Are you ok?" He only had a broom and if she wasn't able to he would send a flare up to get the attention of the others looking for her. She turned back to him and started walking more steadily as the feeling was coming back to her legs.

"I'm ok." She smiled up at him reassuringly but he could tell she wasn't completely alright. She had probably been sitting in that cave for a very long time. Her eyes widened at the sight of the broom but she said nothing. James helped Gail onto the broom and then he climbed on in front of her. He kicked off the ground and Gail wrapped her arms tightly around his stomach. He could barely breathe with her grip but he could feel her face buried into his back as they flew. She was obviously terrified but he didn't tell her to lessen her grip just in case she fell off.

When they finally got back to school Gail practically passed out from exhaustion. James once again wrapped his arm around her waist and walked her to the Gryffindor common room. She couldn't make it up the stairs and she sat down on the one of the sofas. James turned around to get a blanket but by the time he turned back she was already fast asleep. He put the blanket on her and Professor Mc Gonagall burst through the door followed by a few other professors. She looked relived at the sight of Gail and then turned back to James

"Where did you find her? Who gave you permission to leave the school grounds and to follow something as dangerous as a griffin? You could have been killed!" James didn't get a chance to defend himself as he was ordered from the room. He stood without moving and finally Professor Stacks pushed him from the room and locked the door behind him. James couldn't get back in so went reluctantly upstairs to his room. He didn't get any sleep worrying about Gail.

Minerva stood over the sleeping Gail making sure the girl was fine. She seemed alright but she would have to be sent to the infirmary just in case. Minerva could hear the other professors whispering and she ushered them from the room not wanting to wake Gail. She addressed them all.

"We will talk about this tomorrow. Gail is fine and this will be discussed in detail in the morning now everyone go to sleep." They all stared at her bursting with curiosity but they left reluctantly. Minerva looked back at Gail and thought once again about who this girl was and why on earth she had been able to ride a griffin even though no one had done such a thing for thousands of years.

In the morning Gail was extremely groggy walking toward Professor Mc Gonagall's office. When she had woke up after sleeping on one of the common rooms sofas there had been a note telling her to go the headmaster's office. James hadn't been there when she woke up and she assumed he had gone to his own room but she would have to thank him later for finding her. Gail got to the large stone bird statue which was the entrance to Professor Mc Gonagall. She stood next to the statue and it began move upwards. When it stopped moving Gail was standing in Professor Mc Gonagall's office with the faces of Hagrid and Professor Mc Gonagall staring at her worriedly. Gail walked hesitantly into the room and looked at the large phoenix sitting on a perch behind Professor Mc Gonagall. She looked at the phoenix instead of looking back into the worried expressions of the two people staring at her. Gail sat in the chair across the desk from Professor Mc Gonagall. She looked down at her hands and had the odd feeling she had done something wrong.

"Gail do you realize what happened yesterday?" Minerva spoke to Gail and Gail now looked up at her teacher. She didn't know what to say so instead let Professor Mc Gonagall carried on.

"You rode a griffin. A griffin has not allowed any one to ride it in years. How did you know how to respond to the griffin so it would allow you to ride it?" Minerva asked questioningly. Hagrid shifted his weight and the floor creaked under his weight. Gail looked up at him and gave him a small smile trying to tell him it wasn't his fault what happened yesterday. He smiled back and Gail said to both of them.

"I don't know. When the griffin bowed to me I just knew I had to bow back. I don't know how I knew what to do but I just had this feeling." Gail pointed at her chest and smiled to herself remembering the instinctive feeling that had spread across her chest when the griffin had bowed to her. Minerva's forehead creased slightly at Gail's response. She hadn't been expecting this answer and Hagrid also seemed stunned. He looked at Minerva and she smoothed her expression.

"It's ok Gail. You did nothing wrong and it is an amazing thing that you rode a griffin. Everyone is just relieved you are back safe and sound. You may leave now and go back to your room. You are excused from classes today to get some rest." Minerva stood up and walked Gail from the room. When Gail left, Minerva and Hagrid exchanged confused glances and then began to talk quickly about what had happened.

Gail walked back to the Gryffindor common room hoping to see one of her friends but the room was empty as everyone was at class. Rusty was sitting in the corner of the room and he ran at her excitedly when he saw her. He jumped at her and Gail fell over while he licked her face. She laughed and pushed him backwards while trying to get up. She was exhausted and she went up the stairs and collapsed onto her bed asleep instantly. Gail hadn't even had a chance to get changed or close the door behind her she was so tired. Rusty pulled a blanket around her and pushed the door closed. He jumped onto the bed and lay down next to her trying to warm her with his body heat. Her hands were like ice from sleeping in the cold common room all night and sitting in the freezing cave. Gail didn't move all night. The only reason she stirred was from the loud squawk noise that came from somewhere not too far away and the bird like silhouette that flew past her window.


	9. Competition

Competition

Gail walked into the common room the next morning and was greeted by a mixed reaction. Rosie, Victoria, James and the others ran towards her enthusiastically the moment they saw her, asking her what had happened and was she was alright. The other students sitting in the common room sat whispering to each other and throwing darting glances in Gail's direction. There had been a lot of rumors surrounding what had happened with Gail and the griffin the day before. Some thought that Gail had jumped onto the griffins back willingly and forced him to fly away and others thought that the griffin had gotten defensive and flown away just happening to have Gail on its back. The most popular rumor was that Gail used some kind of magic to make the griffin fly away in an attempt to try and run away from Hogwarts. This was the rumor that prompted the glance because people were scared of what Gail could do and why she had been able to ride a griffin.

Gail noticed the strange looks the other students were giving her but she had never been very popular so this wasn't a new experience for her and she wasn't too concerned. Victoria also felt the stares burning into the back of her head and she looked around to see everyone who had been looking in their direction instantly look down at the floor. Victoria narrowed her eyes at them and grabbed Gail's arm pulling her from the room full of curious eyes. She would rather talk without an audience. Victoria walked swiftly form the room pulling Gail after her with James and the others following behind her.

As they were walking outside Victoria and Teddy exchanged a worried look seeing how groups of students instantly stopped talking as they walked past them. Victoria glared at them and they looked down at the floor, breaking the curious stares that were aimed at Gail. Gail was standing in the center of the group and she could see the look that Victoria gave Teddy. She smiled to herself when Victoria glared at a group of kids who had been looking at her. Gail liked the fact that Victoria was standing up for her and she was glad that they were friends. She knew that Victoria hadn't really liked her at the beginning but she definitely considered Victoria one of her friends now. She had never really had many friends before.

When they were outside they didn't stop walking until they were standing just inside the forest. There was part of a crumbling stone wall still standing and they sat down carefully. Rusty suddenly bounded out of the trees and lay down panting at Gail's feet. She reached down to pat his head wondering once again how he had gotten out. Victoria turned to Gail first and asked

"Well what happened yesterday?" Everyone was staring at Gail thinking exactly the same thing. Gail froze and then looked at Victoria

"I don't know." She answered quietly looking down at her hands. A small breeze picked up lifting the ends of Gail's hair and she shuddered, remembering the sensation of flying through the air. She didn't know how to explain the instinctive feeling that had made her bow to the griffin. Gail had somehow just known what do to. She looked back at Victoria trying to think if a way to phrase what had happened that wouldn't make her look crazy.

"I just knew what to do." Everyone stared at Gail looking confused. Rosie had been doing research about griffins in the library all afternoon. The last known case of someone riding a griffin was with Godrich Gryffindor, the founder of Gryffindor house. He had only ever given one account of the flight and that didn't really contain much information about how he had been able to get the griffin to allow him to ride it. Rosie had thought maybe Gail saw something and it stuck with her without her realizing but Rosie hadn't been able to find anything useful and she had spent hours flicking through the huge books purposely looking for information on getting a griffin to allow someone to ride it. Rosie didn't tell the others about what she had found because she didn't want to alarm them. James however noticed Rosie's forehead crease with confusion at Gail's response and he looked at her expression worriedly.

Victoria was still staring at Gail and noticing Rosie and James expressions, she abruptly changed the subject. She had the feeling Gail wasn't ready to talk about what had happened and neither did James or Gail and they had been the ones who had seen what had actually happened. Lily now ran through the trees and hugged a surprised Gail. Lily smiled up at her and then started patting Rusty. She was glad that Gail was back. No one would tell her exactly what happened but she didn't believe the rumors that had been going around. Gail didn't seem like the kind of person who would want to run away from Hogwarts. Lily looked up at the towers of the castle just visible over the tips of the trees. She couldn't believe anyone would ever want to leave this place.

Rusty got up suddenly and growled at the trees. Gail looked up but she couldn't see what he was upset about. Lily got up and walked to sit on the wall next to Albus. Rusty was standing defensively in front of Gail and then bolted into the trees barking madly. Rusty had never acted like this before and Gail ran after him. James and the others followed behind her running and calling Rusty's name but they couldn't find him anywhere. Gail was ahead of the others but she couldn't see them. She could hear them calling out for Rusty and their footsteps somewhere behind her but she ran deeper into the forest hearing Rusty whine. As she ran she couldn't hear the others anymore and she stopped, listening. She heard Rusty bark again and she followed the noise. Gail ran into a circle of huge trees and tripped over a huge root sticking out of the ground. Something soft nudged her foot and she turned onto her side to pat Rusty but it wasn't Rusty. There was a large golden colored paw next to her foot still tangled in the tree root and the griffin from the day before was standing over her.

Gail was completely paralyzed with fear and Rusty was barking furiously next to her. She moved slowly, backing away from the griffin that was standing over her. It didn't move at her reaction but stayed still, looking down at her and then back at Rusty. Gail grabbed Rusty's collar afraid he would attack the griffin and there was no way that Rusty would win against the huge half lion creature standing only a few feet away from them.

Gail pulled Rusty back by the collar but he carried on growling at the griffin. The griffin was still standing, looking from Gail to Rusty. It turned slowly and walked into the center of the clearing and shook out its wings then stopped to turn and look at Gail again. She couldn't move and she stood staring at the griffin hoping that James or one of the others were close and would run into the clearing at any moment. The griffin took a step toward Gail and Rusty and bowed its head slightly to the left. Gail bowed back in acknowledgement of the griffin and she fought the urge to once again go instinctively toward the griffin. Rusty suddenly stepped back pulling Gail backwards and almost making her trip again. She kept her balance and gripped Rusty's collar tighter. The griffin now stepped back and nodded its heads at Gail shaking out its wings simultaneously. With its wings still outstretched the griffin turned and flew away. Gail didn't know why but she somehow knew that the griffin had just apologized for the day before.

James now ran through the trees from the direction the griffin had just flown into. Gail was still standing frozen to the spot and the sight of James followed by the others snapped her out of it. James smiled at Gail slightly confused by the expression on her face. She smiled back reassuringly and let go of Rusty's collar. He had stopped barking and was sitting calmly at Gail's side. He now pranced happily over to Lily who patted his head and ran off with her carrying a stick she would throw for him to chase. Gail now walked shakily toward James who had been joined by Teddy, Victoria and Albus. Teddy had a look of concern on his face and he was talking hastily to the others.

"Look I don't know what it's about but we had better get back." James also looked puzzled while Victoria and Rosie were whispering quietly.

"What's wrong?" Gail asked mirroring the expressions of James and Teddy.

"Don't know. Professor Mc Gonagall announced that something important is going to be said at dinner tonight in the great hall. Everyone has to attend or apparently there will be severe consequences." Teddy added air quotes around the last sentence and rolled his eyes for good measure. Victoria pursed her lips at Teddy's impersonation of the headmistress but Rosie let out and involuntary giggle. Albus looked at his watch

"We had better go or we going to be late." Rosie jumped seeing the time and started pushing the group in the direction of the hall. No matter what Teddy's attitude was she wasn't as laid back when it came to Professor Mc Gonagall's threats.

When they got to hall it was already packed. Tobias waved them over eagerly to spaces he had saved, much to the irritated expression of other Gryffindor students squashed together on the cramped benches. James sat down next to Tobias and the others then sat just before Professor Mc Gonagall stood to silence the room. She stood behind the large podium embellished with a golden owl at the top of the hall. The candles hovering around her head moved slightly to avoid the large brown hat perched on her head.

"Good evening everyone. I hope all of you are enjoying your time at Hogwarts and are thriving in your studies. Now I have a very important announcement to make that will concern all students." Professor Mc Gonagall looked out at the curious faces over the rims of her glasses. Everyone was completely still as they waited for her to continue.

"As most of you know Hogwarts has held many competitions over the years such as the Tri-Wizard Tournament." This comment gave rise to a wave to talk. James looked up at Rosie and Victoria concerned as there family had history with this particular competition and everyone knew it. Others sat up to attention some hoping that they would have a chance to compete one of these legendary competitions, others cringed at the thought. Professor Mc Gonagall once again held up her arms to silence the room.

"There has been events held over many years and I am pleased to announce that once again we will be honoring that tradition. Over the next few weeks there will be a number of rounds held during this competition. Each round will consist of a different challenge that will test every aspect of a student's knowledge." Professor Mc Gonagall looked again at the faces of the students. Rosie perked up at this point while Teddy and James smirked at her eager expression. Sometimes her 'thirst' for knowledge or so she called it was embarrassing for the entire family. Victoria elbowed Teddy in the ribs wiping his expression clean and causing Rosie to notice James's expression. She narrowed her eyes at him causing James to chuckle softly under his breath. Gail smiled too at the little family exchange. They always made her giggle with their little family quarrels. They all looked back up again at Professor Mc Gonagall.

"This completion will be a test of all abilities taught and treasured at Hogwarts. Every student will be required to take part from every year. All students will be put into groups of twos and they will compete in teams." There was another flutter of talk as everyone instantly turned to their friends to discuss what they were going to do about the contest. Teddy was talking to Victoria while James and Tobias were laughing together loudly. Gail looked down at her hands. She could only imagine who Ms. Mc Gonagall would somehow force to be her partner. She looked up to see Rosie had moved down to talk to one of other friends Linda. Rosie looked up and gave Gail a guilt ridden smile and Gail smiled back weakly. Rosie felt guilty about not asking Gail especially when James who was sitting next to her was completely ignoring her. There was more than likely going to be a round in the completion that would involve doing magic and Rosie was unsure about Gail's ability. She didn't use a wand and Rosie had never seen her do even the tiniest spell. Everyone knew that Gail was getting special lessons from the headmistress but no one knew exactly why. There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding Gail's magical abilities. Professor Mc Gonagall began speaking again. She almost had to shout above the noise in the hall.

"Students will be assigned partners during classes tomorrow." There was a chorus of protest at this but Professor Mc Gonagall continued anyway.

"The contest will consist of a number of rounds that will be held at regular intervals. During each round teams will compete for points and teams with the least points during each round will be eliminated from the competition. At the end of each round the winners will receive clues that will help them during the contest. Now I'm sure you would all like to know what the prizes are." She smiled as the expressions on the faces of the less enthusiastic students brightened by the word prizes.

"The prize for this competition is something that hundreds of wizards have gone after over many years. It is something which is of great honor and prestige and that almost everyone student that has attended Hogwarts has once dreamed of having. I wish everyone the best of luck in obtaining this amazing prize and throughout the entire competition." Professor Mc Gonagall stepped down from the podium and food instantly began appearing in the tables. She sat down at the teachers table watching as students started discussing what had just been said as they filled their plates. Minerva nodded at Professor Longbottom and he followed her out of the room. All the professors were going to have a long night of putting pairs of students together to compete in the completion. Gail watched them leave and felt bad knowing they would be working all night and wondered if they were assigning partners just because of her.

Tension in class the next day were so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. Through every class everyone was waiting for the professor at the front of the room to announce who they would be put with for the completion. The first few classes when nothing happened, everyone let it go but by the fifth class everyone was jumping out of their seats. Professor Twills finally put James, Rosie, Tobais and Gail out of their misery. They knew he would be making the announcement when he walked into class carrying a rolled up piece of parchment. James looked hopefully at Tobais but he doubted seriously that any professor would let them go together. They weren't exactly known for reliable teamwork when it came to school projects.

Rosie stopped herself from looking back at Gail. She felt guilty about it but she didn't want to be put with Gail. She wanted to do well as obviously this was an important school event and there was so much uncertainty when it came to Gail's magical abilities. Gail's stomach flipped nervously as Professor Twills called out the names of the teams and people got up to go sit next to their new partners. She saw Tobais get up reluctantly and sit next to an eager looking girl who was rumored had a gigantic crush on him and he knew it. James rolled his eyes at Tobais's attitude and was disappointed that he wasn't with Tobias. He really didn't want to be with some annoying goody two shoes who only wanted to win. He let out a sigh of relief as Rosie got up and went to sit next to another girl near her.

There was only a few names left on the list now and neither James nor Gail had been called. James turned and finally noticed Gail sitting nervously beside him. He took out his wand and let a shower of multicolored sparks flow form the end. Gail laughed and looked slightly calmer. James had noticed that magic always made her feel better even though strangely enough he had never seen her do any. Professor Twills now got to the end of the list

"And James Potter with Gail." Gail looked up at this shocked. She turned to James who also looked shocked. Professor Twills looked reassuringly back at Gail. Gail looked at James, giving him an apologetic look. She felt terrible that he was stuck with her and she was going to do everything possible to help him win. James laughed at Gail's expression and laughed

"Looks like it's you and me. Thankfully I didn't get stuck with one of the little goody two shoes that only care about to winning. At least we can have a laugh while all everyone else scrambles to impress. Right?" Gail sighed with relief at his response. He was either a very good actor or he really didn't care about the contest and she had seen him try to keep a straight face when Tobais was trying to make him laugh during class.

"Right it's going to be great." Gail smiled back at James. She was really glad that he was her partner instead of someone like the girls that had used to be staying in her room. Maybe the contest wouldn't be so bad after all. She smiled at Rosie too who was now looking their way. Rosie was glad Gail was paired with someone she knew as Gail didn't have many friends. Gail would wish Rosie luck later. Rosie really wanted to win and Gail was rooting for her. Class ended and everyone left the room going in different directions. Everyone was now wondering about what the amazing prize Professor Mc Gonagall had been talking about last night and how they and their partner were going to get it or at least most of them were. Gail was walking toward her room thinking about the incident with the griffin that morning and wondering exactly what it meant.


	10. Duel

Duel

All week the students of Hogwarts spent their time scrambling to cram in revision, practicing making potions and any other ability that they felt needed some fine tuning. Almost every student in every house wanted to win the esteemed mystery prize that the headmistress had described the week before. This amazing prize was the reason that the Potters, the Weasleys and Gail sat in the library looking through large dusty old textbooks. As Professor Mc Gonagall had been very vague when describing exactly what the prize was Rosie was making it her new project to find out what. She had been scanning the pages of every textbook she could get her hands on over the past week but she still couldn't figure it out.

"Ugh. It doesn't make any sense. Everything valuable enough that every wizard would have wanted at some time is either lost or stolen and the rest are just rumors that no one is really sure existed. Even if the professors were able to find one of the things there's no way they would just give it to a student for winning a silly contest." Rosie slammed the book shut loudly causing the librarian to shush her loudly and give the entire group an irritated stare. Rosie smiled apologetically at her then kicked Teddy from under the table as he had begun to make face at her from behind his book. He grunted with pain and Gail laughed quietly as he took out his wand and began to send small pieces of paper zooming around her head. Victoria also took out her wand and with a flick turned the paper into a heap of burning charcoal. James noticed Gail staring at the heap and then back at Victoria with a strange look almost like she was jealous.

"Look, I highly doubt that the stuffy professors here are really going to give the little teachers pets that win the contest something actually worth having. It's probably going to be a certificate signed by Professor Mc Gonagall or a rare ancient book that they think is really great but is just mind numbingly boring. Don't worry about it. Even if you don't figure out what the prize is that isn't going to stop you doing everything in your power to win and more than likely you will. You inherited the brains of the family. Sorry James but she also got the looks well from her mother's side anyway." At this last comment he kissed Victoria on the cheek causing her to blush. Rosie also blushed at the compliment while James narrowed his eyes and Albus had begun to laugh hysterically. James began to reach for his wand but Gail cut in swiftly.

"Rosie maybe it's something more like honorary thing. What if the prize is like a portrait of the winners that will be hung in the castle or their names carved into a statue or something." Gail knew this comment wasn't very helpful but said it more to change the subject form Teddy's last remark than anything else. Rosie looked up at this and began to flick furiously through the pages of the book in front her again. James and the others also looked slightly impressed by what Gail had said.

"Gail that's brilliant. I never even thought of that. An honorary thing, that's brilliant. Why didn't I think of that? A portrait would be an honor I suppose but not everyone would really like that I guess. But what if…." Rosie was talking to herself more than the other and her conversation had become more of a quiet mumble.

"I guess the teachers would think something like honorary would be a pretty good prize but I don't think it would be a portrait. I don't know a lot of people that would want a giant portrait of themselves hanging in the school forever but the statue thing is a good idea. That wouldn't be so bad. I think you're definitely onto something with the honor thing Gail." Rosie was absolutely beaming like it was her idea and not Gail's. Rosie got up leaving a massive pile of books on the table. Everyone at the table knew she was going to look over every single statue that sat in the castle. Teddy chuckled and followed her out of the room. He would have so much fun hiding behind statues and scaring her. Victoria got up reluctantly to follow him. She couldn't control him but at least she could warn poor Rosie. Albus got up too leaving James and Gail alone at the table.

There was a gigantic pile of books on the table and Gail got up starting to put them back onto the shelves. She staggered under the weight of the book and James picked up the remainder shoving them onto the shelves. He got it done a lot faster as he didn't pay much attention to where exactly the books went back. James chuckled as Gail squinted at the tiny numbering on the spines of the books making sure every single one went back into exactly the right place. When they had finally finished and were on the way out the librarian Ms. Heathers stopped them to talk to Gail. She was a tiny old woman with small beady eyes framed by oval spectacles with a string of beads that kept them around her neck. No one knew exactly how old she was but she had always seemed like a constant presence in the library of Hogwarts. Gail talked to her for a few minutes and then walked with James to the common room. James knew that Gail had put the book away so Ms. Heathers wouldn't have too. There was no way she could handle those heavy textbooks.

On the way back to the common room a small owl flew over James and Gail's hand dropping an envelope into Gail's hands. She tore open the envelope and frowned

"I have to go see Professor Mc Gonagall. I have to…" Gail looked up remembering that James was listening and stopped talking. She was embarrassed about the fact she didn't use a wand and she hadn't told anyone about the incident at Ollivanders. Wizard families had been buying their wands there for years and that's where James and Rosie's parents had gotten their wands. They had all been so upset when they heard it had burnt done and Gail didn't want them to know it was all her fault. They were the only friends she had. Gail felt the raised scar on the palm of her hand and looked down at her feet turning to go in the direction of the headmistress' office. James stepped in front of her before she could leave

"Gail you ok? You've been going to Professor Mc Gonagalls office once or twice a week since the beginning of school and I know it's rude of me to ask but why? If you're having trouble with school Rosie could always help. I know you don't like going to the headmistress' office you don't exactly jump for joy every time you get one of those envelopes." James smiled at her comfortingly. He and the others had been wondering what she and Professor Mc Gonagall were doing in her office for weeks now. His curiosity was killing him and he really did want to help Gail. He could tell she hated their private lessons. There weren't any real need for them really. Gail was doing well in classes as far as he knew even though she had so much to catch up on so much.

"Thank you James but I don't really want to talk about it. It doesn't really matter, I'm sorry." Gail ran off before James could say anything else. He stood there wondering what Gail seemed so upset about. He would get Rosie to talk to her later. There was obviously something bothering her and maybe she would talk to her. James wondered why Gail didn't want to tell him what was going on, it couldn't possibly be that bad.

The next day as Rosie and Gail were walking toward potions class they met Professor Twills who rather angrily shouted something about classes being cancelled and ushered them back toward the great hall. They were stumbling through the crowd of other students when they bumped into Teddy and Victoria. It wasn't hard to miss Teddy with his bright blue hair. Everyone was ushered into the hall by teachers and prefects who looked slightly confused and irritated at having their timetables disrupted.

The four long tables that were usually in the great hall had been removed and replaced by a large rectangular raised platform. The students had begun to fill the room and were pressed into every corner. James and Tobias who were standing on one of the pillars at the side of the hall jumped down and walked over to stand beside Teddy and the others. They could see Lily from across the room with her friends and she waved enthusiastically at them. Suddenly the defence against the dark arts teacher Professor Riffle climbed onto the platform and silenced the students.

"Welcome, welcome. There had been much anticipation for this event over the last week so let's not dawdle and begin. Today will be the first round of the competition." There was a flurry of chatter. Rosie's eyes nearly fell out of her head. Teddy smiled smugly at her expression but you could see a hint of nervousness in his eyes. Victoria smiled confidently. She had been paired with Teddy and she knew they would do well. They would give Rosie a run for her money. Tobais nudged James cheekily and then ran off to find his partner. James laughed to himself and then smiled encouragingly at Gail trying to ease the terrified expression on her face. Professor Riffle carried on

"Now not all of you will be familiar with this platform but it is a dueling platform. Most of you will already have experienced something like it in your second year. Here are the rules. Students will be drawn randomly and step onto the platform. Students will not be working in their assigned pairs for this round however points will be awarded and added up at the end of the round so you are still in essence working together. When a student is selected they will step up and then they will get to choose their own opponent. Everyone must take part. Only non-harmful spells will be allowed and I will be monitoring all duels now let's begin." Professor Riffle turned and a small glass ball appeared next to him. He withdrew a name and called it out. The girl who Tobias had been paired with stepped onto the platform and selected her opponent, another girl from the crowd. They took out their wands and on Professor Riffles say so they began to duel.

Duels only lasted a few minutes until Professor Riffle called time. Everyone paid extreme attention at first but after a while people started to get bored and wonder outside or sit along the side of the halls. After about an hour finally Teddy's name was called. He jerked up when he heard his name called and then after winking at Victoria, confidently walked up to the platform. Victoria rolled her eyes at his arrogance but was smiling proudly up at him from where she stood. Teddy stood on the platform for a few minutes gazing into the crowd as if he was thinking extremely hard about who he was going to pick. After a while he turned and said something to Professor Riffle who then called Rosie onto the platform. She was slightly stunned by the fact that Teddy had chosen her but she knew it was probably because he had some new crazy spells that Uncle George had told him behind her back.

Teddy and Rosie stood back to back and waited for Professor Riffle to give them the go ahead. Gail could see Teddy whispering something to Rosie and she burst out laughing. Gail knew they weren't actually related but Teddy was really close to the others. Professor Riffle said begin and Teddy and Rosie began to walk away from each other. They turned and Rosie did the first spell. Teddy blocked it and sent one of his own. Rosie's hair turned bright blue and she looked angrily at Teddy. He laughed pointing at his own head

"Now we match." Rosie glared at him and laughed sarcastically. She fixed her own hair and then before Teddy could react she sent a stream of fire at him catching the tips of his hair. Rosie smiled triumphantly while Teddy patted his head furiously trying to put out the flames. From that point on there was very little Professor Riffle could have done to stop either of them even if he had tried. He figured they were both good students they would just work it out themselves. There was no way he was going to be the one to get between the two of them.

Gail was watching the duel with fascination. James nudged her snapping her out of it. She looked like she was watching a tennis match her eyes darting back and forth again and again. Gail tore her eyes away from Teddy and Rosie to look at James.

"Why do you think the professors are letting us pick our opponents rather than giving us them. Wouldn't that make more sense?" Gail asked curiously. James shrugged that had been bothering him to. It did seem like a more teachery thing to assign partners.

"Don't know. Maybe they figure if we get to choose then we'll pick our friends. We'd be a lot less likely to try and hurt our friends during a duel so maybe they think this way is safer." He shrugged. Gail thought this was a good observation and looked back to Teddy and Rosie who were climbing down from the platform. Judging by Teddy's singed robes Rosie had won that round. They were laughing and pushing each other as they walked back to them. It did seem like a good idea for people to pick their friends as they wouldn't want to hurt them or at least not purposely. Two more students got onto the platform and Gail could tell they knew each other. It was obvious the teachers had done this to keep everyone safe. Gail saw Professor Mc Gonagall out of the corner of her eye standing in the doorway watching the duels.

Professor Riffle now got on stage again and pulled another name form the glass bowl. He held it up and said clearly

"Scorpius Malfoy." A group of Slytherins cheered and Scorpius was practically carried onto the platform by a group of boys. He stood arrogantly on stage looking menacingly into the crowd of students. He looked deep in thought as he choose his opponent and seemed to be scanning the crowd looking for one particular face. Some people even looked down at their feet hoping no to be picked as Scorpius wasn't known for going easy when it came to duels. Eventually he came to the face he had been looking for and pointed in Gail's direction saying something to Professor Riffle. James knew Scorpius had choosen Gail purposely and he stood in front of Gail but not before Professor Riffle saw who Scorpius was talking about. He began speaking to Scorpius while beckoning over Professor Mc Gonagall. She walked swiftly up onto the platform and joined the heated discussion. Everyone was listening closely as the argument got louder and louder. James could see that Gail was shaking next to him and Professor Mc Gonagall kept glancing nervously in her direction. Scorpius sighed and practically screamed for everyone to hear

"You said we could choose our partners and everyone has to compete. Now I've choosen her so she had to duel me." He crossed his arms glaring at the headmistress. Professor Riffle looked at her sympathetically and Professor Mc Gonagall got down and came in the direction of James and Gail. She whispered something to the visibly terrified Gail and then guided her up onto the platform. James looked over at Teddy and they pushed their way up next to the platform followed by Victoria and Rosie, all hostility from earlier forgotten. They could see Professor Mc Gonagall still whidpering to Gail while she looked on the verge of tears. The headmistress got down leaving Gail alone on the opposite end of the platform to Scorpius. James tried to give Gail a look of encouragement but she was completely focused on a spot on the floor.

Everyone expected Gail to take out a wand but when she didn't and Professor Riffle called for them to begin, she made no such move. Scorpius however didn't hesitate for a moment. He pointed his wand at Gail and said something causing a bolt of red light to fly at Gail. It flew toward Gail and instead of defending herself she threw her arms in front of her blocking her face. She was thrown backwards through the air and hit the ground full force. Rosie and Victoria were horrified while they and Tobias practically had to hold Teddy and James back to prevent them getting up and throttling Scorpius. Everyone in the room was confused at what had just happened and Porfessor Riffle and Professor Mc Gonagall helped Gail up. She looked slightly shaken and she was rubbing the arm that had taken the blunt of the fall. Scorpius however looked irritated

"She has to fight back otherwise it's not a real duel." Professor Riffle looked at Professor Mc Gonagall again apologetically. They had done the rules in dueling during his class two years ago and it was the one lesson Scorpius had actually paid attention in. They couldn't really do anything about the rules and Professor Mc Gonagall started whispering to Gail again. This time Gail turned white and began whispering back pleadingly. Scorpius smiled smugly, it was obvious Gail was terrified and Professor Mc Gonagll couldn't do anything about it. James and Teddy were seriously on the verge of going up and wiping the smug smile of Scorpius' face.

Once again Gail was left alone on the platform with Scorpius. This time however she raised he arms like she was getting ready to catch something. Scorpius again did the first spell but this time Gail did do something. As the ball of light flew at Gail instead of hitting her it stopped a few feet away from her and burst like it hit an invisible force field. It shimmered and then pulled itself into a small ball that hovered between Gail's open hands. The room was completely silent as they watched Gail do magic without any use of a wand whatsoever. They had never seen anything like this. James and the others were staring open mouthed at Gail. James gave Rosie a silent look trying to say that maybe this was why they had never seen Gail do magic before.

Gail stared down at the shimmering ball of light that was suspended between her hands. She hadn't even had to do anything when Scorpius had sent the spell at her. It just didn't hit her. She had done everything possible not to do magic last time but this time Professor Mc Gonagall had told her to do magic and it kind of just happened. The ball of light was still shimmering and Gail was staring at it transfixed. It felt slightly warm and it was suddenly getting hotter. Gail could feel it getting hotter and she had the odd sensation that she hadn't felt since the day in Ollivanders. Gail looked up and everyone instantly recognized the look of panic on her face. She practically screamed

"Get down." Everyone student instantly hit the floor. Someone pulled Scorpius down from the platform luckily just before the ball of magic between Gail's hands exploded throwing her backwards and sending showers of sparks all over the room. The large stained glass windows on the opposite of the room to Gail shattered from the force of the spell. Broken glass went everywhere while students tried to shield their faces so they wouldn't get scratched. Dust and bits of wall came loose as well and landed on the students closest to the walls.

Gail got up slowly and looked around at the broken glass that now covered the platform. As she got up she noticed the chandelier hanging on the ceiling swaying from side to side. It was hanging directly above where James, Rosie and the others were lying. Suddenly the chord snapped and the chandelier fell. Professor Mc Gonagall reached for her wand but she knew she would be too late. It was like everything moved in slow motion. Gail screamed the word

"No." She reached forward like she was going to catch an invisible ball. Her face was contorted with concentration and the chandelier stopped midair. Gail made a movement as if she was throwing a ball but the chandelier flew sideways mirroring the motion of her hand. There was a shattering sound as it hit the wall sending glass and crystal cascading everywhere. Students got up slowly after this as if they had been snapped out of there trance like state over what happened with the sound of the shattering chandelier. James ran his hair through his hair. He could still feel the sensation of the wind as chandelier had stopped only a few feet above his head and then Gail had somehow thrown it away.

Gail was still standing completely still on the platform. It was like she couldn't move. People were beginning to get up and leave the room or whisper staring at Gail. Professor Mc Gonagall moved toward Gail. She walked up onto the stage and grabbed Gail's arm swiftly. Gail was still mumbling the word sorry over and over again while tears ran down her face. Before anyone could say anything else the image of Professor Mc Gonagall and Gail swirled and then completely disappeared. James stared at the spot where they had been standing and wondered where they had gone. Teddy walked up to stand next to James and they exchanged a silent look. It was definitely unusual for someone to be able to do magic without a wand and even more strange for a witch to be able to that kind of magic without a wand when she had only been learning it for a few weeks.

Lily ran up to James grabbing his hand. She was babbling on and on about Gail and how she was glad the chandelier hadn't crushed them. James wasn't listening and was deep in thought about what had just happened and Gail. Teddy could see this and he pulled Lilly away changing the subject so she would leave him alone. James nodded a silent thank you. As they left the room the final thing they heard was someone say very clearly

"But I thought you couldn't dissaperate within Hogwarts."


	11. Clue

Clue

Gail once again felt the sensation of being pulled through an invisible wind tunnel except this time not only was her stomach turning from the feeling of being pulled through the air but because of the guilty felling over what had just happened. Professor Mc Gonagall had a tight grip on her arm as they whooshed through the air. She had wanted to get Gail out of the room as fast as possible after she had displayed her magical abilities in front of everyone. Some of the students didn't appear to take the fact that Gail could do magic without a wand very well. Minerva couldn't really blame them it was a hard thing to process even for a more advanced witch or wizard. They would have a lot of explaining to do when she took Gail back.

Minerva and Gail landed with a thud outside a small wooden house. It had two floors and a brown shingle roof. The house had been painted white although it looked slightly under cared for as the paint was peeling around the four windows on the front of the house. The flower boxes on the windows were empty and the small front garden was overgrown. Minerva opened the gate and it creaked opened. It had been a long time she had come back to the house. She didn't like coming back, it was so lonely since her husband had died. It was more convenient anyway to stay at Hogwarts over the past few years after becoming headmistress. But when she had to take Gail somewhere and after remembering what had happened at the last magical destination they had gone to this was the only place she could think of. The house was a bit like a muggle home and Gail would probably feel more comfortable here than some magical destination.

Gail followed Professor Mc Gonagall up the pathway to the house. It was probably a nice house a long time ago. Gail wondered if Professor Mc Gonagall had lived in the house before or she just knew about it. There weren't any other houses around but Gail could see chimneys in the distance so they probably were close to some kind of village or town. As Gail walked into the houses she noticed the framed pictures hanging on the walls of the hallway. There was a younger looking version of Professor Mc Gonagall standing in most of them with a tall man with hair that was just turning grey. Gail assumed that it was her husband. He must have died years ago as Gail had never seen him or even heard Ms. Mc Gonagall talk about him. Also considering the house was falling into such a state it was obvious no one was living there anymore.

Gail realized she had been standing in the hall for a few minutes staring at the pictures. She went into the kitchen hearing the kettle whine signaling it was done. Ms. Mc Gonagall was pouring tea into mugs and she set one on the table for Gail. Gail took it and sat down at the wooden table in the center of the kitchen. Minerva sat opposite Gail and she smiled to herself realizing this was the arrangement that she and her late husband Elphinstone had sat in. Minerva had seen Gail looking at the pictures and as she didn't want the first thing they discussed to be what happened in the great hall she started with

"So you liked the pictures in the hallway." Gail nodded and almost spilled her tea everywhere embarrassed that Ms. Mc Gonagall had seen her staring at the pictures. She nodded in response and asked shyly

"Who was the man in the picture with you?" she didn't mean to be rude but the curiosity was killing her. Professor Mc Gonagall turned around to stare at the picture stuck to the front of the fridge. It was her wedding photo. She and Elphinstone had had a very simple ceremony of close friends and family only. In the picture she and Elphinstone were in the middle of their first dance. It had always been her favorite photo of them largely because you could only see the side of her face and Elphinstone was giving one of his huge full toothed smiles. He was twirling her and her cream colored dress was raised at the edges from the motion while he stood still grinning in his tuxedo. Dumbledore, her nephews, niece and her brothers could be seen in the background behind them smiling.

"Yes that was my husband Elphinstone. He passed away a number of years ago. We used to live in this house but ever since he died and I moved into Hogwarts it has fallen into a bit of disrepair unfortunately." Minerva sighed at this looking out the window over the sink at the overgrown back garden. She would really have to come back more often and try to fix the place up a bit.

Gail had noticed Professor Mc Gonagall staring at the picture on the fridge and she turned to look at it too. The man and woman in the picture were smiling and dancing. One of the men behind them looked slightly familiar to Gail.

"You look happy. Who's the man in the background he looks familiar?" Gail asked. Minerva smiled at Gail's recognition of one of the previous headmasters of Hogwarts. Dumbledore's portrait was hanging in her office and Gail had obviously taken notice. She answered smiling

"Glad to see you recognize Dumbledore, one of Hogwarts previous headmasters." Gail looked slightly taken back by the fact that she had recognized Dumbledore. Minerva now picked up the two empty mugs on the table and put them in the sink. She sat down heavily across from Gail. They were going to have the conversation she was dreading.

"Gail we are going to have to talk about what happened in the great hall. I know this may be difficult but you need to tell me what happened and I will try and explain what I can. What you did in the great hall was much greater than anything we ever practiced, now how did you do that?" she asked this all in a calm soothing voice so not to alarm Gail but she still looked upset by the topic of the conversation. Gail looked down at her hands

"I don't know. When you told me not to do magic I didn't and when you told me it was ok to do magic it just happened. Once I knew it was ok and didn't not want to do it then it just came out of me. I didn't mean to and then when I stopped the spell I felt myself losing control of it and then it just…" Gail looked up at Professor Mc Gonagall. She looked into the sad confused eyes of Gail and sighed. She didn't really know all the answers either.

"Gail I don't know what exactly what happened either but I have a theory. Most young witches get their wands at age eleven and because you didn't then the magic inside you didn't have any way of getting out and built up over the years. Now when you release it, it explodes out in an uncontrolled way but I'm sure with time this will ease up so don't worry. This is also the reason that I can disaperate in and out of Hogwarts when usually this is impossible. I am able to draw from your magic to make it easier, that is how we got here." Minerva stopped talking and looked at Gail who looked like she was processing the new information. Gail now asked

"Will everyone be asking about what happened when we go back?" Professor Mc Gonagall sighed and looked at Gail sympathetically

"I'm afraid so but don't fret things never get talked about for too long at Hogwarts. There are strange things happening all the time and I'm sure this will all blow over soon. Now we best be heading back its getting dark." Gail now noticed how the kitchen had become darker and looking outside the sky was turning a bluish black. Professor Mc Gonagall opened the back door and stepped out pulling her cloak around her as it had gotten colder. Gail reluctantly followed her down the pathway trying to avoid the overgrown plants as she walked. Minerva stopped and held out her arm for Gail to take. Gail reached out tentatively preparing herself. The moment Gail touched her headmistress's arm they were sucked back through the air to Hogwarts.

When they landed Gail and Minerva were standing in Minerva's office. Gail watched as Professor Mc Gonagall walked across the room and sat behind her desk. Fawkes the phoenix who was perched near the large wooden desk stirred and squawked making both of them jump. Minerva smiled and indicated the door to Gail

"I think there are some people outside that want to take to you." Minerva led Gail toward the large statue and watched as it brought Gail downwards through the floor, out of her office leaving Minerva to think about everything that had happened.

Gail watched as her headmistress disappeared from her view. She could feel the statue was nearly at the doorway and she wondered who wanted to talk to her. She assumed that it was Professor Riffle. Maybe Professor Mc Gonagal had asked him to give her private lessons on how to control her magic since obviously now there was going to more issues with her magic than Professor Mc Gonagall had originally thought. Gail hesitantly reached out to grab the door handle and opened the door. Instead of Professor Riffle standing there Gail saw the concerned faces of James, Rosie, Teddy and Victoria. Before Gail could say anything she was pulled into a massive hug with all four of them. Rosie was the first one to speak after they left Gail go

"Where the hell did you go? I mean what on earth happened in the great hall earlier? You did that kind of magic without a wand, practically destroy the great hall and then you just disappear. We were freaking out with worry, we looked everywhere for you." Gail didn't know which question to answer first and she stood opened mouthed trying to figure out what to say. James jumped in saving Gail

"Rosie, one question at a time. Even I barely understood what you just asked." Rosie frowned and opened her mouth to fire another round of questions but more slowly this time. Victoria however got there faster

"Gail why can you do magic without a wand?" this really was the most obvious question and Rosie was slightly irritated she hadn't been the one to ask it. Rosie, Teddy and James also turned to stare at Gail. However Gail was staring at her feet. This had been the very moment that she had been dreading. Now she would have to tell them what she was and they would never speak to her again. It was her own fault really she had gotten too close to her new friends when she knew what would happen when they found out. Rosie knew a bit about her history with her family and Gail wondered why she hadn't told her family yet. She figured Rosie just felt sorry for her. Gail looked up flicking the curtain of hair off her face and said quickly wanting to just get this over with

"I wasn't found until I was sixteen so I can't use a wand. The last time I used one I accidently burned down a building." Gail got quieter on this part remembering the expression on Mr. Ollivanders face also she didn't want the others to know she had been the one to destroy the wand shop. Gail carried on resisting the temptation to look down at her feet and burst into tears.

"Professor Mc Gongall came and told my family before term. They kicked me out when they found out because I'm a freak." Gail looked from face to shocked face. Suddenly they were all yelling abuse. Gail cringed away from the harsh voices and was just about to run down the hall toward the clock tower when once again she was pulled into a hug. Victoria had been the one to pull Gail into the massive hug. Gail could feel Victoria squeezing her so hard that she thought Victoria was trying to crush her. Finally Victoria let Gail go and Gail sucked air back into her lungs. She was about to run down the hall when she noticed the tears in Victoria's eyes. Gail turned confused to look at the others. The boys looked outraged while Rosie had the same teary expression as Victoria. Victoria now said

"Gail I am so sorry." Victoria turned to the others and once again they all started talking in angry tones. This time Gail listened to what they were saying rather than just the tones. Every one of them was talking furiously about her family had done to her and how horrible they were to have thrown her out. Gail turned confused to the others

"You're not angry at me. You don't think I'm a monster, a freak." She hesitated before saying this last word but even after she forced it out everyone looked at her shocked. This time Rosie was the one to hug her but Gail was still completely confused. James pulled Rosie back seeing Gail's expression and said

"Gail you are not a freak. It doesn't matter what your parents said or did but those muggles don't understand how amazing magic is and being a witch is. Muggles don't understand. Everyone at this school is special including you. You are not a monster understood?" Gail looked from face to face and said

"You're not angry at me. You don't hate me. Were still friends?" Gail asked the last question hesitantly dreading if the answer was no. Rosie pushed James out of the way as pay back from a few moments beforehand. Rosie answered Gail, wiping the tears from her eyes

"Of course were still your friends Gail and we definitely aren't angry at you. We have no reason to be and neither do those silly muggles. They were probably just jealous anyway. Don't worry Gail." A huge smile broke out across Gail's face and she hugged Rosie. James, Teddy and Victoria joined in too and when they finally broke away Teddy spoke up

"Now to more important matters. Did anyone else see Scorpius's face when Gail threw that ball of magic? Absolutely priceless." Teddy laughed and Victoria turned to look at Gail's expression. Gail was smiling too and laughing quietly. Victoria and the others joined in too and pretty soon they were all hysterical picturing Scorpius's face. They all walked down the hallway toward the common room still laughing. Professor Mc Gonagall could hear Gail and her friends laughing and she knew Gail would be fine.

When they got to the common room James stopped Gail before she could go upstairs with Rosie and Victoria. Gail was still laughing softly and James was glad that she was happy. He was worried that Teddy's comment earlier would have upset her. She seemed a lot happier now. Gail had probably been worrying about them finding out about her past for a long time. James smiled down at the beaming face of Gail and said

"I'm meant to tell you got into the next round of the contest." Gail looked shocked by this and she waited for James to continue

"They finished off the duels yesterday when you were gone and after they cleaned up. I won my round and you technically you won yours as points were awarded for skill and no one could claim that Scorpius displayed better magic than you, you won your round so our team got through. All the teams that won got one of these." James pulled a small piece of parchment out of his pocket. It was rolled up and sealed with a wax stamp. Gail took the piece of parchment and looked it over. It was still sealed. James took the piece of paper from Gail and turned it over in his hand for probably the hundredth time since Professor Riffle had given it him. James looked up at Gail and said

"I haven't opened it yet. I was waiting for you." He smiled down at Gail and she smiled back. James put his thumb under the wax seal ready to tear it open but stopped when he heard someone's footsteps coming towards the common room. It was probably one of the Professor coming to make sure everyone was asleep. James looked at Gail and she said

"Maybe we should open it tomorrow before class starts. How about after breakfast in the clock tower?" She smiled up and him and he nodded answering her question. Gail turned and walked up the stairs and wondered what the piece of parchment could possibly say. James walked to his room thinking the exactly same thing.

The next morning James couldn't wait any longer. He caught up with Gail and Rosie as they were walking to breakfast. Rosie knew that James had gotten a piece of parchment just like her as she had also made the next round of the competition. She knew he been waiting for Gail and she let them go without a word of protest. Rosie continued toward the great hall as James and Gail disappeared around a corner. James followed Gail to the clock tower considering she knew the way better than he did. He had never really been there before but apparently Gail had. She knew the way without even looking around. James followed Gail up a flight of stairs. He noticed on the way there he didn't see one other student. He didn't even recognize a lot of the corridors leading up to the clock tower. Not a lot of students usually came to this part of the castle.

When they had finally finished climbing the staircase James was panting but Gail walked straight to the window, completely fine. James followed Gail to where she was now sitting and he sat down beside her. He stared openmouthed at the view in front of him. You could see the entire grounds from where they were sitting. James could see other parts of the castle, the lake, Hagrids hut and the quidditch field. He could just make out people zooming around the field on broomsticks. James looked back to Gail who was also staring out at the view. There was a slight breeze against his face but he could see the ends of Gail's hair lifting like there was a much stronger wind.

James withdrew the piece of parchment from his pocket once again and put his thumb underneath the wax seal. This time he pulled upwards and broke the seal. He looked up at Gail and handed her the parchment as his hands were shaking. Gail took the parchment opened it up so she could see what it said. There were a few lines of writing printed onto the parchment and Gail read it out so James could hear

"Hidden behind a gate of gold, under a jewel of blood. Guarded by a creature of myth, few have known to behold. Placed for all to see, but few can see the inside. Only those who can see within, truly deserve the prize." Gail looked back to James confuse and he mirrored her expression. He took the parchment from her and read it over again thinking he might have heard it wrong and maybe if he saw it, it would make more sense. It didn't and he put the piece of parchment down frustrated. He looked at Gail and she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry we'll figure it out." He smiled back at her and looked out at the view again. He said more to himself than to Gail

"Guess were going spend some time looking behind golden gates. You know of any? He chuckled at his own joke and Gail giggled. James saw that the sun had come out from behind a cloud at the same time that Gail laughed and James thought that it was an odd coincidence. They both sat looking out and thinking of what the clue they had just read really meant.


End file.
